THE 

SONNETS 

OF 

SHAKESPEARE 


From  the  Quarto  of  1609 
with  variorum  readings  and  commentary 

EDITED    BY 

Raymond  Macdonald  Alden 


SW/ffiWk- 


BOSTON  &   NEW  YORK 
Houghton  Mifflin  Company 

1916 


COPYRIGHT,    I916,    BY    RAYMOND    MACDONALD    ALDEN 
ALL    RIGHTS    RESERVED 

Published  September  jgib 


TO 
B.  H.  A. 


HAPLY    I    THINK    ON    THEE  ;    AND    THEN    MY    STATE, 

LIKE    TO    THE    LARK    AT    BREAK    OF    DAY    ARISING 

FROM    SULLEN    EARTH,    SINGS    HYMNS    AT    HEAVEN'S    GATE. 


PREFACE 

The  Sonnets  of  Shakespeare  have  a  place  beside  the  play  of  Hamlet  in  con- 
tention for  the  doubtful  honor  of  being  the  cause  of  more  perplexity  and  contro- 
versy than  any  other  literary  work  in  the  English  tongue.  More  persons,  other- 
wise seemingly  normal  members  of  society,  have  thought  that  they  were  the 
first  to  understand  one  or  the  other  of  these  works,  or  have  professed  to  make 
illuminating  discoveries  regarding  them,  than  could  be  computed  as  critics  of 
any  writing  since  the  Iliad.  If  the  present  editor  can  come  to  the  end  of  his  task 
with  any  feeling  of  complacency,  it  is  because  he  has  spent  some  years  with  the 
Sonnets  and  still  finds  himself  without  a  revelation.  In  other  words,  his  com- 
placency must  be  due  only  to  the  existence  of  some  evidence  that  he  is  still  sane 
—  a  poor  substitute,  no  doubt,  for  the  enthusiasm  of  the  seer.  It  is  the  purpose 
of  this  volume,  then,  not  to  present  a  new  theory  of  the  Sonnets,  but  to  bring  to- 
gether a  body  of  critical  material  illustrative  of  them,  sufficient  for  all  the  pur- 
poses of  the  less  ambitious  reader,  and  adequate  to  set  the  most  tireless  student 
on  the  track  of  what  he  wishes  to  know. 

The  Bibliography  is  intended  to  serve  as  a  convenient  outline  of  the  history 
of  the  text  and  its  interpretation;  but  it  may  be  well  to  say  something  here  of 
the  general  course  of  this  history.  Though  seemingly  among  the  fairly  popu- 
lar lyrical  collections  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  Sonnets  largely  dropped 
out  of  sight  toward  the  end  of  that  century  and  through  the  greater  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  age,  therefore,  of  the  building  of  the  modern  text  of 
Shakespeare's  plays  saw  no  similar  work  accomplished  for  the  Sonnets,  which 
were  not  even  included  in  any  edition  of  the  Works  of  Shakespeare  (save  in  occa- 
sional supplementary  volumes)  until  Ewing's  Dublin  edition  of  1771,  and  not 
again  till  Malone's  of  1790.  It  is  to  Malone  that  we  owe,  in  effect,  the  accept- 
ance of  the  narrative  and  lyrical  poems  as  a  part  of  the  standard  Shakespeare 
text;  and  it  is  also  to  him,  in  large  measure,  that  we  owe  the  modern  text  of 
the  Sonnets.  Practically  all  the  well-known  editors  of  Shakespeare  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  beginning  with  Boswell  (but  with  the  exception  of  Singer),  paid 
due  attention  to  the  Sonnets,  and,  together  with  numerous  lesser  commenta- 
tors, from  time  to  time  proposed  improvements  in  the  text;  but  it  cannot  be 
said  that  it  was  given  to  any  later  critic  to  add  in  a  distinguished  way  to  the 
textual  work  of  Malone,  —  though  it  was  given  to  a  number  of  his  successors 
to  reject  certain  of  his  errors.  Dyce's  conservative  work  on  the  text,  in  the 
Aldine  edition  of  the  Poems  (1832)  and  in  his  Works  of  Shakespeare,  should 
perhaps  be  mentioned.  In  1866  the  Cambridge  editors  (Clark  and  Wright) 
issued  the  ninth  volume  of  their  Shakespeare,  containing  the  Sonnets,  and 
gave  for  the  first  time  something  like  a  history  of  the  text  up  to  that  period, 
which  was  brought  down  to  1893  in  the  revised  edition.    The  Cambridge  edi- 


viii  PREFACE 

tors,  however,  were  not  so  disconcerting  as  to  leave  nothing  to  be  done  in  the 
way  of  correction  and  completion  of  their  textual  apparatus,  even  within  the 
limits  which  they  set  for  themselves;  and,  as  every  student  of  the  Shakespeare 
text  is  aware,  they  made  no  effort  to  do  more  than  list  the  first  appearance 
of  every  lection,  so  that  one  can  learn  nothing  from  their  notes  regarding  the 
weight  of  opinion  on  any  disputed  matter.  Since  1893  nothing  of  importance 
has  been  done  on  the  history  of  the  text  of  the  Sonnets.  The  text  of  Wyndham, 
in  the  Poems  of  1898,  is  notable  for  its  conservative  tendency,  many  aban- 
doned readings  of  the  Quarto  having  been  restored  and  defended  in  this  edi- 
tion, with  variable  but  —  on  the  whole  —  doubtful  success.  Samuel  Butler's 
text,  of  1899,  is  distinguished  for  the  opposite  extreme,  admitting  many  new 
readings  which  no  other  editor  has  felt  justified  in  accepting.  Of  the  very  nu- 
merous separate  editions  of  the  Poems  or  Sonnets  which  have  appeared  since  the 
end  of  the  nineteenth  century,  two  classes  may  be  distinguished :  those  which 
follow,  in  general,  the  text  of  the  Globe  or  other  standard  edition  of  Shake- 
speare, and  those  which,  under  antiquarian  influences,  attempt  something 
like  a  reproduction  of  the  original  Quarto  text,  though  admitting  a  minimum 
of  corrections,  —  as,  for  example,  Morris's  Kelmscott  reprint  and  that  in 
the  "Tudor  and  Stuart  Library"  of  the  Clarendon  Press.  Aside  from  the 
photographic  facsimiles  made  by  Praetorius  and  by  the  Clarendon  Press,  the 
Quarto  text  has  been  reproduced  with  almost  complete  accuracy  in  the  Ameri- 
can "First  Folio  Edition." 

The  upshot  of  this  development  of  the  text  is  that  it  is  a  matter  of  general 
agreement  that  the  Sonnets  Quarto  of  1609  was  not  published  under  the  au- 
thor's supervision,  or  corrected  with  such  care  as  to  make  it  an  authoritative 
text.  On  the  other  hand,  the  number  of  serious  errors  in  the  printing,  such  as 
make  real  difficulties  for  the  commentator,  is  relatively  small.  Aside  from 
matters  of  spelling  and  punctuation,  something  between  fifty  and  fifty-five 
errors  have  been  corrected  by  the  agreement  of  the  great  majority  of  editors; 
of  these  corrections  nine  were  made  in  the  Poems  of  1640,  eight  by  Gildon  (as- 
suming that  he  edited  the  Poems  of  1710  and  1714),  and  thirty  by  Malone  — 
though  of  these  a  number  were  first  suggested  by  Theobald,  Tyrwhitt,  or 
Capell.  There  remain  some  eighteen  passages*  where  editorial  emendations 
are  in  marked  disagreement,  and  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  these  cruces  will 
ever  be  solved. 

In  the  matter  of  interpretation,  Malone's  edition  was  even  more  decidedly 
j  the  pioneer  than  in  the  matter  of  the  text,  and  his  notes  (including  those  of 
Steevens)  furnished  the  only  important  commentary  on  the  Sonnets,  one  might 
say,  for  nearly  a  century;  though  creditable  additions  were  made  by  Knight 
and  Dyce  in  England,  Hudson  in  America,  and  Delius  in  Germany.  It  is 
astonishing,  however,  how  many  difficulties  and  problems  Malone  and  his  suc- 
cessors ignored.  The  first  really  critical  introduction  and  commentary  to  the 
Sonnets  appeared  in  Dowden's  edition  of  1881,  accompanied  with  an  excellent 

*  In  n.  11;  16,  7;  16.  10;  23.  9;  24,  1;  28,  14;  46,  9",  Si.  10;  Si.  11;  58,  11;  62,  10;  69.  14; 
8s.  3;  112,  14;  113,  14;  126.  2;  I3S.  13;  146,  2. 


PREFACE  ix 

working  bibliography;  and  from  that  time  to  the  present  the  body  of  annota- 
tion has  been  steadily  increased,  notably  by  the  work  of  Tyler,  Wyndham, 
Beeching,  and  Sidney  Lee.*  Aside  from  the  notes  made  by  editors,  a  large 
amount  of  criticism  in  the  same  field  appeared  in  separate  books  and  articles 
throughout  the  nineteenth  century.  The  chief  theories  of  the  Sonnets  which 
have  been  presented  and  discussed  during  this  whole  period  may  be  con- 
veniently summarized  as  three  in  number:  (i)  the  personal  or  autobiographic, 
(2)  the  fictional  or  imaginative,  and  (3)  the  mystical  or  esoteric.  The  first  was 
set  forth  by  Malone,  when  he  said  that  to  one  VV.  H.,  "whoever  he  was,  126 
of  the  following  poems  are  addressed;  the  remaining  28  are  addressed  to  a  lady." 
Following  this  general  view  came  the  proponents  of  Southampton  and  of 
Pembroke,  thus  setting  in  motion  a  long  train  of  arguments,  doubtless  not 
yet  brought  to  an  end.  The  personal  interpretation  was  also  developed  influen- 
tially  by  Charles  Armitage  Brown  (1838),  whose  view  of  the  Sonnets  might  be 
said  still  to  dominate  the  body  of  criticism  on  the  subject.  The  second  theory, 
that  the  Sonnets  are  primarily  imaginative  in  character,  has  been  discussed 
less  in  English-speaking  countries  than  in  Germany,  where  it  received  an 
impetus  from  so  distinguished  a  scholar  as  Delius,  in  1865.  In  its  earlier  form, 
according  to  which  the  Sonnets  were  a  product  of  Shakespeare's  imagination 
in  much  the  same  sense  as  the  plays,  this  theory  has  been  echoed  more  and 
more  faintly  during  recent  years,  though  it  has  had  the  support  in  England  of 
Dyce,  Halliwell-Phillipps,  and  Henry  Morley,  and  in  America  of  Hudson  and 
Thomas  R.  Price.  In  another  form,  according  to  which  the  Sonnets  were  writ- 
ten in  a  kind  of  competitive  following  of  a  lyrical  fashion  of  the  Renaissance, 
the  imaginative  interpretation  has  had  the  persistent  support  of  Sir  Sidney 
Lee,  and  in  Germany  has  lately  been  reenforced  by  the  studies  of  Wolff.  The 
third  theory,  the  mystical,  is  not  one  but  many,  standing  for  a  type  of  inter- 
pretation through  which  the  Sonnets  are  viewed  as  of  esoteric  or  symbolic 
significance,  usually  of  a  more  or  less  spiritual  character.  Of  these  interpreta- 
tions the  earliest  is  Barnstorff's  (i860),  in  Germany,  which  was  followed  by  not 
a  few  efforts  of  kindred  spirits  in  both  America  and  England.  Still  a  fourth 
group  might  be  made  of  Massey's  theory,  and  one  or  two  similar  ones,  accord- 
ing to  which  the  Sonnets  were  written  concerning  real  (personal)  situations,  but 
those  not  of  Shakespeare  himself  but  of  certain  friends.  This  view  of  Massey's, 
supported  with  more  abundant  detail  and  more  impassioned  devotion  than 
that  of  any  other  writer,  found  two  or  three  followers  in  Germany,  like  Krauss 
and  von  Mauntz,  but  has  not  commended  itself  to  any  noteworthy  English 
or  American  critic. 

As  has  appeared  from  this  summary,  the  personal  view  of  the  Sonnets,  ac- 
cording to  which  the  great  body  of  them  is  viewed  as  having  to  do  with  real 
friends  and  experiences  of  the  poet,  emerges  generally  dominant  from  the  long 
debate.  But  when  we  seek  to  separate  the  personal  element  in  detail  from  the 

*  Nor  should  the  name  of  Alexander  Schmidt  be  forgotten  here,  for  his  Lexicon  gave  the  same 
careful  attention  to  the  Sonnets  as  to  the  plays,  often  with  valuable  results.  Dowden's  notes, 
in  particular,  are  often  unacknowledged  echoes  of  Schmidt's  —  though  I  do  not  mean  to  imply 
any  lack  of  candor  in  the  use  of  so  familiar  an  authority. 


0 


x  PREFACE 

elements  which  are  in  part  admittedly  conventional,  and  still  further  when  we 
seek  for  biographic  particulars,  identifications,  and  the  like,  criticism  tends 
to  be  increasingly  agnostic.  The  Southamptonists  and  Pembrokists  are  still 
with  us;  the  ghost  of  Mary  Fitton  is  not  yet  wholly  at  peace;  but  the  saner  and 
more  competent  of  recent  critics,  like  Dowden,  Furnivall,  Churton  Collins,  Luce, 
Mackail,  Beeching,  and  Walsh,  show  a  wholesome  distrust  of  the  effort  to  read 
in  the  Sonnets  a  definite  biographical  narrative.  This  agnosticism  is  strength- 
ened, too,  by  the  persistent  suspicion  that  the  Sonnets  have  not  come  to  us 
altogether  in  their  original  order,  and  that  that  order  cannot,  in  all  probabil- 
ity, be  restored.  The  reaction  against  the  excesses  of  biographic  interpretation 
has  been  increased  by  the  studies  of  Sir  Sidney  Lee,  and  it  seems  clear  that  our 
understanding  of  the  Sonnets  can  never  be  quite  the  same  that  it  was  before 
these  studies  revealed  the  extent  and  character  of  the  sonnet  writing  of  the 
Renaissance;  yet  on  the  other  hand  competent  criticism  is  nearly  unanimous 
in  the  view  that  Lee  is  too  little  disposed  to  realize  the  extent  to  which  an  arti- 
ficial form  may  express  a  real  experience  and  be  saturated  by  personal  feel- 
ing. Because  a  wedding  ring  is  of  itself  insufficient  proof  of  marital  affection, 
it  does  not  follow  that  one  who  wears  a  wedding  ring  is  to  be  assumed  to  be 
married  only  in  name.  On  the  other  hand,  too  much  stress  can  scarcely  be  laid 
on  the  wholesome  and  rational  habit  of  withholding  belief  from  the  thousand 
biographical  inferences  which  have  been  drawn  from  the  Sonnets,  without  a 
scintilla  of  proof,  apparently  merely  because  human  nature  abhors  a  vacuum 
f  knowledge  where  Shakespeare  is  concerned. 
Respecting  the  intrinsic  value  of  the  Sonnets,  we  may  distinguish  three 
stages  of  modern  comment.  The  early  modern  editors  of  Shakespeare  viewed 
them  with  indifference  and,  as  we  have  seen,  with  neglect.  Dr.  Johnson  does 
not  vouchsafe  them  a  word,  —  a  circumstance  which  we  need  not  regret,  since  he 
doubtless  viewed  them  as  at  least  no  better  than  the  sonnets  of  Milton,  which 
he  disposed  of  by  the  statement  that  "of  the  best  it  can  only  be  said  that  they 
are  not  bad."  Steevens's  comment  has  become  notorious,  to  the  effect  that  an 
Act  of  Parliament  could  not  compel  the  reading  of  the  Sonnets  of  Shakespeare, 
ere  again,  as  elsewhere,  Malone  introduces  the  new  day.  Led  by  Wordsworth 
and  Coleridge,  the  poets  and  critics  of  the  early  nineteenth  century  adopted  with 
substantial  unanimity  the  opinion  of  the  former  that  in  none  of  Shakespeare's 
writings  "is  found,  in  equal  compass,  a  greater  number  of  exquisite  feelings 
felicitously  expressed";  the  only  notable  dissenters  were  Hazlitt  and  Hallam. 
The  climax  of  the  age  of  appreciation  may  perhaps  be  found  in  Swinburne's 
article  of  1880,  in  which  he  speaks  of  the  later  sonnets,  concerned  with  the 
dark  lady,  which  have  been  relatively  neglected  save  for  biographic  conjec- 
tures, as  "incomparably  the  more  important  and  altogether  precious  division" 
of  the  collection^  In  recent  years  there  has  been  a  perceptible  tendency,  as  in 
the  criticism  of  Shakespeare's  dramatic  work,  to  distinguish  frankly  between 
those  elements  in  the  Sonnets  which  are  "of  an  age,"  and  are  characterized 
either  by  the  eccentricities  of  Petrarchan  and  Elizabethan  poetic  fashion 
or  by  temporary  and  individual  conditions  of  expression,  and  those  which 


PREFACE  xi 

represent  a  lyrical  power  and  beauty  valid  "for  all  time."  Not  many  go  so  far 
as  a  recent  German  critic,  who  groups  the  Sonnets  according  as  they  are 
unsittliches,  absurdes,  and  triviales,  with  a  small  saving  residuum  of  Edel- 
steinen ;  but  one  may  recognize  without  shame  a  growing  courage  to  distin- 
guish between  what  is  believed  to  be  inferior,  coincident  with  the  courage  to 
acclaim  what  is  excellent.  The  aesthetic  criticism  of  the  Sonnets  has  been  im- 
peded by  the  exaggerated  attention  attracted  to  disputed  aspects  of  the  bio- 
graphic problem,  but  of  late  it  has  developed  with  some  hopefulness;  notable 
in  this  respect  is  the  edition  of  the  Poems  of  Shakespeare  made  by  the  late 
George  Wyndham,  which,  as  Dean  Beeching  observes,  "deserves  the  thanks 
of  all  lovers  of  poetry  for  the  resolute  way  in  which  it  keeps  before  the  reader 
that  the  one  thing  of  importance  in  the  Sonnets  is  their  poetry."  How  many 
of  the  Sonnets  should  eventually  be  cuflecf  out  as~worthy  of  being  cherished 
no  matter  by  whom  written,  how,  or  when,  we  cannot  expect  tp  be  able  wholly 
to  agree;  perhaps  a  not  much  larger  number  than  might  be  chosen  from  the 
same  standpoint,  out  of  the  work  of  other  great  sonneteers  —  Sidney,  Words- 
worth, and  Rossetti.  But  the  world's  judgment  is  now  secure  that  in  these  best 
of  the  Sonnets  of  Shakespeare  we  find  no  less  truly  revealed  the  supreme  lyrical 
powers  of  English  poetry  than  its  supreme  dramatic  powers  are  exhibited  in 
his  greater  plays-. 

I  must  now  return  from  this  hurried  survey  of  the  criticism  represented  in 
this  book  to  the  method  of  the  book  itself.  To  exhibit  the  history  of  the  text, 
a  list  of  texts  had  to  be  made  de  novo,  though  of  course  with  important  aid 
received  —  for  the  earlier  periods  —  from  the  Cambridge  editors.  The  appa- 
ratus in  the  "First  Folio  Edition"  is  wholly  inadequate,  and  the  monumental 
New  Variorum  fails  us,  for  recent  textual  history,  even  in  respect  to  complete 
editions  of  Shakespeare,  owing  to  the  point  of  view,  repeatedly  explained 
therein,  that  "the  text  of  Shakespeare  has  become,  within  the  last  twenty- 
five  years,  so  settled  that  to  collate,  word  for  word,  editions  which  have  appeared 
within  these  years,  would  be  a  mark  of  supererogation."  That  there  is  much 
supererogatory  labor  in  any  such  collation  I  should  be  the  last  to  deny,  having 
found  no  pleasure  in  noting  where  Herford  puts  a  colon,  Rolfe  a  semi-colon, 
Craig  a  period.  But  if,  as  is  very  frequently  the  case,  the  chief  use  to  be  made 
of  a  textual  apparatus  is  to  discover  the  weight  of  editorial  opinion  on  disputed 
issues,  it  is  clear  that  recent  editorial  opinion,  where  the  text  has  been  reworked 
with  care,  is  often  of  at  least  equal  weight  with  that  of  the  editors  of  a  century 
ago;  hence,  with  all  humble  reverence  for  the  New  Variorum  Shakespeare,  I  can 
see  no  adequate  reason  for  the  omission,  in  its  later  issues,  of  the  collation  of 
such  newly  made  texts  as  those  of  Craig,  Neilson,  and  Bullen.  For  the  Sonnets, 
of  course,  there  must  be  numerous  additions  to  the  list  of  editions  of  the  plays. 
I  have  tried,  then,  to  collate  all  editions  of  the  Sonnets,  whether  found  bythem- 
selves  or  in  the  collected  Works  of  Shakespeare,  of  which  the  text  appears  to 
be  the  result  of  fresh  and  significant  editorial  consideration. 

For  the  commentary  it  was  my  first  intention  to  limit  myself  to  criticism 
which  seemed  distinctly  worthy  of  attention;  but  I  soon  found,  as  others  have 


xii  PREFACE 

done,  that  to  make  this  distinction  was  to  arrogate  to  the  editor  unwarranted 
authority.  In  the  end,  encouraged  by  the  generous  attitude  of  the  publishers 
in  the  matter  of  allowance  of  space,  I  have  sought  to  represent  substantially 
all  comment  which  was  susceptible  of  being  normalized  to  the  plan  of  the  book, 
including  much  with  which  I  have  little  or  no  sympathy.  In  general,  however, 
space  has  not  been  given  to  interpretation  of  the  kind  which  I  have  called  mys- 
tical or  esoteric.  The  point  of  view  of  this  sort  of  interpretation  is  so  distinct 
from  that  which  makes  use  of  the  usual  methods  of  philological  and  historical 
criticism  that  for  the  most  part  it  cannot  be  made  to  blend  with  these  to  any 
advantage.  In  the  body  of  the  notes  I  have  taken  occasion  more  than  once  to 
record  a  protest  against  that  view  of  Shakespeare  which  considers  that  he  made 
a  practice  of  writing  words  intended  to  mean  two  or  three  different  things  at 
the  same  time.  The  symbolic  type  of  the  poetic  imagination  is  one  easily 
recognizable  in  the  Renaissance,  as  in  the  mediaeval  period;  and,  admitting  that 
Shakespeare  occasionally  availed  of  it  for  illustrative  or  rhetorical  purposes,  it 
seems  to  some  of  us  that  nothing  could  be  more  remote  from  his  normal  methods 
of  thought  and  expression.  Characteristically,  the  outlines  of  his  ideas  are 
defined  clearly,  as  by  daylight,  not  blurred  or  doubled  as  in  the  half-lights  of 
allegory  or  mysticism.  Whether  this  be  true  or  no,  the  esoteric  methods  of 
interpretation,  like  ciphers  and  other  riddles,  must  be  worked  out  by  them- 
selves, for  those  whose  perceptions  are  of  a  kind  to  demand  them.  Yet,  wishing 
to  err  on  the  side  of  completeness  rather  than  of  negligence,  I  have  made  place, 
now  and  then,  for  certain  interpretations,  especially  those  concerning  the 
alleged  platonism  of  the  poet,  which  go  beyond  the  point  where  I  can  follow. 
For  a  thorough  and  satisfactory  consideration  of  the  place  of  platonism  in  the 
poetry  of  Shakespeare  and  his  contemporaries,  we  have  still  to  wait. 

Notes  respecting  the  disputed  place  of  a  sonnet  in  the  order  of  the  whole 
collection,  or  respecting  its  relative  date,  or  having  to  do  with  some  biographic 
interpretation  such  as  the  Pembroke  or  the  Southampton  theory,  have  been 
included  in  the  body  of  the  commentary  only  where  they  might  throw  some 
light  on  the  interpretation  of  the  particular  passage  concerned.  Obviously 
such  notes  cannot  be  well  understood  except  as  portions  of  complete  arguments 
for  special  theories  of  dates,  order,  or  identification.  These  topics,  therefore, 
have  been  segregated  in  the  Appendix. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  judge  how  far  such  an  edition  should  go  in  recording 
the  "parallel  passages"  which  have  been  noted  by  commentators.  If  all  were 
included,  the  resulting  bulk  would  be  alarming,  for  the  game  is  a  fascinating 
one  when  once  entered  upon  with  zeal.  The  effort  has  been  to  discriminate, 
though  I  dare  not  claim  to  have  done  so  with  consistency,  and  to  note  those 
parallels  which  appeared  to  be  suggestive  for  the  interpretation  of  the  passage 
in  question  or  might  be  thought  to  have  significance  for  its  date,  —  not  those 
of  merely  curious  interest. 

Readers  who  use  the  commentary  with  seriousness  must  learn  as  soon  as 
possible  to  read  notes  with  due  allowance  for  the  bent  of  the  individual  critic. 
They  must  remember,  for  example,  that  the  comments  of  Wyndham  and  of 


PREFACE  xiii 

Miss  Porter  are  based  on  an  abnormal  desire  to  maintain  the  Quarto  text;  that 
those  of  Tyler  are  likely  to  be  connected  with  the  Pembroke  theory,  those  of 
Massey  with  his  peculiar  form  of  the  Southampton  theory,  and  those  of  Lee 
with  his  different  form  of  the  same;  that  those  of  Samuel  Butler  are  colored  by 
his  view  of  the  Sonnets  as  of  very  early  date;  and  that  those  of  Dowden  are 
frequently  due  to  his  extraordinary  efforts  to  present  the  separate  poems  as 
forming  a  perfectly  continuous  series.  It  is  the  distinguishing  merit  of  tjhe  notes 
of  Dean  Beeching  —  perhaps  uniquely  among  the  important  editions  —  that 
they  represent  no  idiosyncrasy  or  pet  theory  of  interpretation,  and  are  there- 
fore peculiarly  suited  to  be  taken  at  their  face  value.  Shall  I  be  presumptuous  if 
I  express  the  hope  that  my  own  comments,  few  enough  at  the  worst,  may  have 
some  claim  to  this  particular  merit?  since,  as  has  been  hinted  already,  I  have 
listened  to  all  the  schools  of  interpretation  without  having  become  a  proselyte 
of  any. 

It  is  to  state  the  self-evident  to  add,  what  I  should  nevertheless  be  ashamed  to 
omit  to  say,  that  this  book  would  probably  never  have  been  made,  at  least 
in  its  present  form,  without  the  example  of  the  work  of  the  late  Dr.  Horace 
Howard  Furness.  Though  the  editorial  problems  of  the  Sonnets  are  some- 
what different  from  those  of  the  plays,  and  though  I  have  ventured  a  word  of 
criticism  of  one  detail  of  the  apparatus  of  the  New  Variorum  Shakespeare,  Dr. 
Furness  has  been  my  teacher,  in  an  important  sense,  from  first  to  last;  and  it 
will  be  my  happiness  if  I  shall  seem  not  only  to  have  learned  from  him  some- 
thing of  the  mechanics  of  the  editorial  art  but  to  have  caught  any  portion  of 
the  clarity  and  poise  of  his  spirit.  It  is  good  to  be  able  to  remember  that  he  once 
gave  friendly  aid  and  appreciation  to  the  first  bit  of  scholarly  work  that  I  ever 
undertook,  and  that  his  son  and  successor,  Mr.  H.  H.  Furness,  Junior,  has 
done  the  same  for  the  present  undertaking. 

Mention  must  also  be  made  of  certain  manuscript  notes  which  have  been 
graciously  put  at  my  disposal  by  friends  who  have  been  students  of  the  Son- 
nets. One  of  these  friends,  my  late  colleague,  Professor  A.  G.  Newcomer,  would 
have  had  a  larger  part  in  this  volume  if  it  had  not  been  for  his  untimely  death. 
Another  colleague,  Professor  Henry  David  Gray,  has  put  me  under  repeated 
obligation.  Mr.  Horace  Davis  of  San  Francisco  turned  over  to  me  notes  rep- 
resenting the  leisure-hour  studies  of  many  years,  some  of  which  give  eloquent 
testimony  to  the  utilities  of  amateur  scholarship.  Matter  from  all  these 
sources  is  duly  acknowledged  in  the  body  of  the  commentary.  The  Shakespeare 
Bibliography  of  Mr.  William  Jaggard  has  been  of  great  service,  and  I  am  also 
indebted  to  its  editor  for  cordial  personal  assistance,  for  the  use  of  his  collection 
of  Shakespeareana  at  Stratford-on-Avon,  and  for  useful  notes  made  on  cer- 
tain of  my  proof-sheets  even  while  he  was  absent  from  home  on  duty  with  his 
regiment.  The  pursuit  of  perfection  in  a  bibliography  is  one  of  the  most  vain 
of  human  endeavors;  that  the  one  included  in  this  volume  is  not  more  imper- 
fect than  it  is,  I  owe  not  only  to  the  labors  of  Mr.  Jaggard  but  to  the  friendly 
aid  of  Professor  Clark  Northup  of  Cornell  University  and  Dr.  Samuel  Tannen- 
baum  of  New  York  City.    Dr.  Tannenbaum  in  particular  has  exerted  him- 


xiv  PREFACE 

self  to  mitigate  the  limitations  of  rr.y  library  with  assistance  notable  equally 
for  disinterested  zeal  and  painstaking  accuracy.  Living  at  a  distance  from 
any  adequate  Shakespearean  collections,  I  cannot  hope  to  have  avoided  errors 
which  the  opportunity  to  verify  notes  gathered  in  many  places  might  have 
prevented;  I  shall  be  very  grateful  to  any  who  may  furnish  corrections.  But 
in  compensation  I  am  happy  to  remember  the  excursions  made  here  and  there 
in  pursuit  of  my  task,  and  the  generous  help  received  from  those  connected 
with  many  libraries:  the  British  Museum,  Bodley's  Library  at  Oxford,  Trinity 
College  Library  at  Cambridge,  the  Public  Library  of  Birmingham,  the  Shake- 
speare Memorial  Library  at  Stratford-on-Avon,  the  Boston  Public  Library, 
and  the  libraries  of  Harvard  University  and  of  the  Universities  of  Michigan, 
Illinois,  and  Pennsylvania. 

I  regret  that  the  recent  revision  of  Sir  Sidney  Lee's  Life  of  Shakespeare  came 
to  hand  too  late  to  be  used  in  the  commentary.  The  additions  made  to  his 
chapters  on  the  Sonnets,  however,  have  appeared  in  earlier  publications,  and 
are  duly  noted  in  this  book;  the  page  references  to  the  Life  are  restricted  to 
the  first  edition.  Another  item  too  late  for  use  in  the  commentary  is  the  im- 
portant article  by  Dr.  Wolff  in  a  recent  number  of  Englische  Studien ;  I  have 
taken  the  more  pains  to  indicate  its  contents  in  the  Appendix. 

The  facsimile  title-page,  Dedication,  and  head-piece  at  the  beginning  of  the 
text  are  from  the  Praetorius  reproduction  of  the  copy  of  the  Sonnets  Quarto 
in  the  British  Museum.  In  the  case  of  the  last  (the  head-piece  and  caption 
on  page  15)  the  original  is  enlarged  about  one-ninth. 

I  conclude  this  Preface  at  the  season  when  the  whole  world  commemorates 
the  three  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  death  of  the  writer  of  these  Sonnets.  If, 
from  his  place  in  the  undiscovered  country,  he  may  be  thought  to  look  upon  us 
mortals  who  busy  ourselves  with  the  stuff  of  his  immortality,  "increasing  store 
with  loss  and  loss  with  store,"  may  his  assured  mastery  of  the  art  of  forgiveness 
reach  its  acme,  and  his  quality  of  mercy  drop  even  upon  his  commentators! 

R.  M.  A. 

Stanford  University,  California. 
April,  1916. 


xvi  EXPLANATION  OF  TEXTUAL  NOTES 

•"Etc."  indicates  that  the  reading  in  question  is  found  in  all  the  editions 
which,  in  the  above  list,  follow  the  one  just  named. 

"Conj."  is  added  to  all  readings  not  found  in  the  body  of  a  text. 

Variations  of  spelling  are  not  noted  except  where  there  is  a  possibility  of 
doubt  as  to  the  word  intended,  or  where  (as  in  the  earlier  editions)  they  may 
have  significance  for  the  history  of  textual  usage.  Variations  of  punctuation 
are  not  noted  except  where  the  sense  may  be  affected ;  the  change  from  another 
mark  of  punctuation  to  ?  is  usually  indicated;  that  from  ?  to  !  is  not. 


EXPLANATION  OF  THE  COMMENTARY 

When  no  page  reference  is  given  for  a  note,  it  is  quoted  from  the  commen- 
tary of  an  editor  on  the  sonnet  in  question.  When  page  reference  is  cited  with- 
out title,  it  is  from  the  only  work  of  the  author  on  the  Sonnets.  Special  cases 
are  these:  notes  from  Massey  are  from  his  later  work,  The  Secret  Drama  of 
Sh.'s  Sonnets;  references  to  Schmidt  are  to  the  Lexicon;  references  to  Abbott 
and  Franz  are  to  their  Grammars. 

All  matter  enclosed  in  square  brackets,  not  signed  by  the  editor,  represents 
the  substance,  but  not  the  exact  phrasing,  of  the  author  cited. 

Quotations  made  by  commentators  have  been  verified  and  corrected,  and 
references  to  act,  scene,  etc.,  have  been  corrected  or  supplied,  without  special 
remark.  Quotations  from  Elizabethan  texts  have,  in  general,  been  modernized 
in  spelling  and  punctuation.  Those  from  Shakespeare  are  from  the  text  of 
Neilson  (Cambridge  Poets);  those  from  the  other  sonneteers  are  usually 
quoted  from  the  volumes  of  Elizabethan  Sonnets  in  the  New  English  Garner. 

The  notes  in  Malone's  commentary  signed  "C,"  which  are  generally  believed 
but  not  positively  known  to  be  Capell's  (see  Wright,  Cambridge  Sh.,  2d  ed., 
vol.  9,  p.  xviii),  are  quoted  under  Capell's  name  with  a  prefixed  asterisk* 


CONTENTS 

Dedication 5 

The  Sonnets 15 

Appendix .  375 

general  criticism 377 

THE  TEXTS  OF  1609  AND  164O 417 

the  arrangement  of  the  sonnets 424 

the  date  of  composition 44 1 

sources  and  analogues  453 

the  friend 464 

the  rival  poet         .       . 472 

"willobie  his  a  visa" 478 

musical  settings 483 

Bibliography 485 

Indexes 

index  to  bibliography 527 

index  to  the  commentary      .       .       .       .       .       .       .  53 1 

index  of  first  lines 539 


SHAKE-SPEARES 


SONNETS. 


Ncuer  before  Imprinted. 


at  London 
By  G.  Eld  for  T.  T.  and  are 

to  be  lolde  by  /<>A/»«V/$A*,dw«Juing 
at  Chrift  Church  gate 
1  609. 


TO.  THE.ONLIE.  BEGET  TER.OF. 

THESE.  INS  VING.  SONNETS. 

M'.W.  H.    ALL.HAPPINESSE. 

AND.THAT.ETERNITIE. 

PROMISED. 

BY. 

OVR.EVER-LIVING.POET. 

WISHETR 

THE.  WELL-WISHING. 

ADVENTVRER.IN. 

SETTING. 

FORTH. 


T.  T. 


DEDICATION 

[The  discussion  which  has  raged  about  this  Dedication  is  very  difficult  to 
condense.  I  omit  here  all  that  portion  of  it  which  concerns  the  identification 
of  "Mr.  W.  H.,"  for  which  see  Appendix,  pp.  464-71.  —  Ed.] 

Malone  [does  not  discuss  the  general  character  or  phrasing  of  the  Dedica- 
tion, but  in  connection  with  his  mention  of  Tyrwhitt's  suggestion  that  W.  H. 
was  William  Hughes  (see  note  on  S.  20,  7)  he  implies  that  W.  H.  was  the 
11  begetter  "  in  the  sense  of  the  person  to  whom  Sonnets  1-126  were  addressed.] 

Chalmers:  How  he  [Mr.  W.  H.]  was  the  begetter  of  them  it  is  not  easy  to 
tell,  unless  we  presume,  what  is  not  improbable,  that  he  begot  a  desire  in  Sh. 
to  deliver  a  copy  to  the  Bookseller,  for  publication:  W.  H.  was  the  getter  of 
the  MS.,  imperfect  as  it  was,  from  which  the  Sonnets  were  printed.  (Suppl. 
Apology,  1799,  p.  52.)  [In  a  subsequent  note  (p.  90)  he  cites  Skinner  as 
deriving  "  beget"  from  A.  S.  begettan,  obtinere:]  Johnson  adopts  this  deriva- 
tion and  sense;  so  that  "  begetter,"  in  the  quaint  language  of  Thorpe  the 
Bookseller,  Pistol  the  ancient,  and  such  affected  persons,  signified  the 
obtainer;  as  "  to  get  "  and  "  getter  "  in  the  present  day  mean  "  obtain  "  and 
"obtainer." 

Drake:  On  the  first  perusal  of  this  address,  the  import  would  seem  to  be, 
that  Mr.  W.  H.  had  been  the  sole  object  of  Sh.'s  poetry,  and  of  the  eternity 
promised  by  the  bard.  But  a  little  attention  to  the  language  of  the  times  in 
which  it  was  written  will  induce  us  to  correct  this  conclusion;  for  as  a  part  of 
our  author's  sonnets  is  most  certainly  addressed  to  a  female,  it  is  evident 
that  W.  H.  could  not  be  the  "  only  begetter"  of  them  in  the  sense  which 
primarily  suggests  itself.  [Chalmers  gives  the  true  meaning.]  .  .  .  We  must 
infer,  therefore,  that  Mr.  W.  H.  had  influence  enough  to  obtain  the  MS.  from 
the  poet,  and  that  he  lodged  it  in  Thorpe's  hands  for  the  purpose  of  publica- 
tion, a  favour  which  the  bookseller  returned,  by  wishing  him  "  all  happiness 
and  that  eternity  "  which  had  been  "  promised  "  by  the  bard,  in  such  glowing 
colours,  to  another,  namely,  to  one  of  the  immediate  subjects  of  his  sonnets. 
That  this  is  the  only  rational  meaning  which  can  be  annexed  to  the  word 
"promised"  will  appear,  when  we  reflect  that  for  Thorpe  to  have  wished 
W.  H.  the  "  eternity  "  which  had  been  promised  for  him  by  an  "  ever-living  " 
poet,  would  have  been  not  only  superfluous,  but  downright  nonsense;  the 
"eternity"  of  an  "ever-living"  poet  must  necessarily  ensue,  and  was  a 
proper  subject  of  congratulation,  but  not  of  wishing  or  of  hope. 

Bos  well:  The  "  begetter  "  is  merely  the  person  who  gets  or  procures  a 
thing,  with  the  common  prefix  "  be  "  added  to  it.  So,  in  Decker's  Satiro- 
mastix:  "  I  have  some  cousin-germans  at  court  shall  beget  you  the  reversion 
of  the  master  of  the  King's  Revels."  Knight  [pursues  Drake's  argument  that 


6  the  Sonnets  of  Shakespeare 

the  fact  that  some  of  the  sonnets  are  addressed  to  a  female  disposes  of  the 
assertion  that  Mr.  W.  H.  was  the  "  only  begetter  "  in  the  sense  of  only 
inspirer.]  Collier  [does  the  same,  and  agrees  that  the  dedication  was  written 
in  compliment  of  W.  H.  for  "  collecting  Sh.'s  scattered  sonnets  from  various 
parties."    (Intro.,  2d  ed.,  6  :588.)] 

[Practically  no  progress  was  made  in  this  discussion,  then,  during  the  first 
half  of  the  19th  century.  But  in  1862  M.  Philarete  Chasles,  Director  of 
the  Mazarin  Library,  proposed  an  entirely  new  interpretation  in  a  communi- 
cation to  the  Athenceum  of  Jan.  25  (p.  116),  to  the  following  effect:]  1st.  That 
we  have  here  no  dedication,  properly  so  called,  at  all,  but  a  kind  of  monu- 
mental inscription.  2d.  That  this  inscription  has  not  one  continuous  sense, 
but  is  broken  up  into  two  distinct  sentences.  3d.  That  the  former  sentence 
contains  the  real  inscription,  which  is  addressed  by  and  not  to  W.  H.  4th.  That 
the  person  to  whom  the  inscription  is  addressed  is,  for  some  reasons,  not 
directly  named,  but  described  by  what  the  learned  call  an  Antonomasia  ("  the 
onlie  begetter  of  these  insuing  sonnets  ").  5th.  That  the  latter  sentence  is 
only  an  appendage  to  the  real  inscription.  6th.  That  the  publisher,  in  the 
latter  sentence,  is  allowed  to  express  his  own  good  wishes  (not  for  an  eternity 
of  fame  to  the  begetter  of  the  sonnets,  which  would  be  an  impertinence  on 
his  part),  but  for  the  success  of  the  undertaking  in  which  he  (the  adventurer) 
has  embarked  his  capital.  .  .  .  Stripped  of  its  lapidary  form  [i.e.,  a  form 
modeled  on  ancient  lapidary  inscriptions],  the  inscription  will  then  run  thus: 
M  M.  W.  H.  wisheth  to  the  only  begetter  of  these  insuing  Sonnets  all  happiness 
and  that  eternity  promised  by  our  ever-living  poet."  "  The  well-wishing 
adventurer  in  setting  forth  [is]  T.  T."  [In  the  issue  of  Feb.  16,  1867,  in  reply 
to  Massey's  discussion  in  Sh.'s  Sonnets  never  before  Interpreted,  Chasles  pur- 
sued the  subject  further,  observing,]  Most  dedications  of  the  Elizabethan 
age  are  written  in  the  same  form,  the  name  of  the  dedicator  following  closely 
that  of  the  dedicatee,  and  the  verb  being  left  at  the  end  of  the  sentence.  .  .  . 
Thomas  Thorpe's  addition  is  a  mere  signature,  a  flourish,  a  postscriptum. 
(p.  223.)  [Still  more  followed,  to  the  same  effect,  in  the  issue  of  April  13,  p. 
486.  And  in  the  issue  of  May  18  Chasles  opposed  the  notion  that  "  begetter  " 
could  mean  "  obtainer,"  by  citing  (p.  662)  31  passages  in  Sh.  where  "  beget  "  = 
"create."  It  should  be  added  that  Chasles  believed  his  interpretation  of  the 
Dedication  would  be  seen  to  be  obvious  if  only  its  typographical  arrangement 
were  accurately  reproduced  in  modern  editions,  and  certain  editors,  notably 
Collier,  hastened  to  point  out  that  they  had  so  reproduced  it.  Others  joined 
merrily  in  the  discussion,  chiefly  with  a  view  of  pointing  out  how  Chasles's 
arguments  bore  on  their  own  pet  theories.  Cartwright,  editor  of  Sonnets 
of  Sh.  Rearranged  (1859),  in  a  letter  to  the  Ath.,  Feb.  1,  1862  (p.  155),  points 
out  that  Thorpe  does  not  assert  that  the  sonnets  themselves  are  inscribed 
to  W.  H.;  the  text  does  not  read  "  promised  him";  hence  it  may  have  been 
meant  to  say,  "that  eternity  promised  to  his  friend."  Massey  (Ath.,  March 
16,  1867,  p.  355)  takes  a  similar  view.  In  the  issue  of  April  27,  replying 
to  Chasles's  argument  respecting  the  spacing  of  the  lines  of  the  Dedication, 


THE   SONNETS   OF  SHAKESPEARE  7 

he  says:]  The  spacing  between  the  words  "  wisheth  "  and  "  the  well-wishing  " 
is  exactly  the  same  as  between  the  three  preceding  lines.  Which  amounts  to 
this:  the  four  central  lines  of  the  inscription  are  more  leaded  than  the  lines  at 
the  beginning  and  end  of  the  same.  ...  If  we  are  to  draw  any  inference  from 
the  printer's  arrangement,  then  the  larger  spacing  of  the  three  lines  preceding 
the  word  "  wisheth  "  shows  an  intention  of  carrying  on  the  inscription,  and 
proves  it  to  be  all  one!  (p.  551.)  [On  the  other  hand,  Bolton  Corney  ( N.  & 
Q.,  3d  s.,  1  :  87)  accepts  the  Chasles  reading,  and  applies  it  to  the  furtherance 
of  the  identification  of  W.  H.  as  Southampton;  and  Samuel  Neil  (Ath., 
April  27,  1867,  p.  552)  accepts  it  in  furtherance  of  his  own  view  of  the  Dedi- 
cation as  intelligible  without  going  beyond  the  limits  of  Sh.'s  own  family, 
W.  H.  being  his  brother-in-law  William  Hathaway  (a  view  which  Chasles 
had  independently  proposed),  and  the  "  begetter  "  perhaps  his  wife  Anne. 
Neil's  rendering  of  "  begetter  "  is  "  suggestor,"  i.e.,  the  "  adviser  of  the  pro- 
duction of  the  book  as  a  substantive  assertion  of  his  right  among  the  lettered 
poets  of  his  time."  Thereafter  little  was  heard  of  Chasles's  interpretation  of 
the  Dedication,  most  Englishmen  doubtless  agreeing  with  Dyce:]  The  idea  of 
M.  Chasles  that  the  inscription  consists  of  two  distinct  sentences,  appears  to  me 
a  groundless  fancy;  and  his  notion  that,  in  the  first  of  those  sentences,  "  Mr. 
W.  H."  is  the  nominative  to  the  verb  "  wisheth,"  offends  me  as  a  still  wilder 
dream.  {Life,  3d  ed.,  p.  102  n.)  C.  Edmonds  [again  discussed  the  Dedication 
in  Ath.,  Nov.  22,  1873,  p.  661:]  Whoever  has  laughed,  as  I  have  done,  over 
[Thorpe's  facetious  dedications,  e.g.,  of  Marlowe's  Lucan,  1600;  Healey's  Epic- 
tetus  and  Cebes,  1610;  Oldcombian  Banquet,  161 1,]  will  not  be  surprised  at  his 
penning  such  a  characteristic  and  familiar  inscription  to  the  W.  H.  of  the  Son- 
nets, in  1609.  But  what  a  different  and  highly  deferential  style  does  he  adopt 
when,  in  1616,  he  dedicates  his  enlarged  edition  of  Healey's  work  to  William 
Herbert,  Earl  of  Pembroke!  I  should  imagine  the  true  interpretation  of  the 
inscription  to  be  that  "  T.  T."  the  publisher,  .  .  .  feeling  deeply  indebted  to 
"  Mr.  W.  H."  for  having  obtained  for  him  the  privilege  of  publishing  such  a 
popular  work  as  Sh.'s  Sonnets  were  likely  to  be,  wishes  him  all  happiness,  and 
that  eternity  promised  by  the  great  bard  to  those  who  are  instrumental  in 
preserving  things  which  the  world  "  would  not  willingly  let  die."  And  this 
thought  was  probably  suggested  by  the  first  lines  in  L.  L.  L.: 

Let  fame,  that  all  hunt  after  in  their  lives, 
Live  register'd  upon  our  brazen  tombs 
And  then  grace  us  in  the  disgrace  of  death; 
When,  spite  of  cormorant,  devouring  Time, 
The  endeavour  of  this  present  breath  may  buy 
That  honour  which  shall  bate  his  scythe's  keen  edge 
And  make  us  heirs  of  all  eternity. 

E.  Lichtenberger  [in  1877  issued  at  Paris  a  thesis  De  Carminibus  Shaksperi, 
cum  nova  Thorpianae  Inscriptioni  Inter  pretatione.  The  new  interpretation  is 
merely  to  the  effect  that  the  Dedication  was  written  particularly  for  the  first 


8  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE 

group  of  sonnets,  those  on  procreation  and  marriage,  and  need  not  be  under- 
stood to  apply  to  the  whole  collection.  In  it  the  writer  wishes  Mr.  W.  H.  immor- 
tality through  a  son  as  well  as  through  the  services  of  poetry.] 

Dowden  [quotes  the  passage  from  Dekker  cited  by  Boswell,  but  dissents 
from  the  view  that  "  begetter  "  in  the  Dedication  means  "  obtainer."]  There 
is  special  point  in  the  choice  of  the  word,  if  the  dedication  be  addressed  to  the 
person  who  inspired  the  poems  and  for  whom  they  were  written.  Eternity 
through  offspring  is  what  Sh.  most  desires  for  his  friend.  If  he  will  not  beget  a 
child,  then  he  is  promised  eternity  in  verse  by  his  poet,  in  verse  "  whose  influ- 
ence is  thine,  and  born  of  thee  "  (78,  10).  Thus  was  Mr.  W.  H.  the  begetter  of 
these  poems,  and  from  the  point  of  view  of  a  complimentary  dedication  he 
might  well  be  termed  the  only  begetter.  (Intro.,  p.  21.)  Halliwell-Phillipps: 
[The  "  only  begetter  "  is]  the  one  person  who  obtained  the  entire  contents  of 
the  work  for  the  use  of  the  publisher.  .  .  .  The  notion  that  "  begetter  "  stands 
for  "  inspirer  "  could  only  be  received  were  one  individual  alone  the  subject  of 
all  the  poems;  and,  moreover,  unless  we  adopt  the  wholly  gratuitous  conjecture 
that  the  sonnets  of  1609  were  not  those  which  were  in  existence  in  1598,  had 
not  the  time  somewhat  gone  by  for  a  publisher's  dedication  to  that  object? 
(Outlines,  8th  ed.,  2:  305.)  Sharp  [observes  that  "only"  may  mean  not  sole> 
but  "  matchless,"  "  incomparable";  cf.  "  only  herald  "  in  1,  10.   (Intro.,  p.  23.)] 

[The  N.  E.  D.  gives  some  comfort  to  those  who  interpret  "  begetter  "  as 
11  obtainer  "  by  citing  Hamlet,  III,  ii,  8:  "  You  must  acquire  and  beget  a  tem- 
perance," under  the  definition  "  get,  acquire  ";  but  on  the  other  hand  cites  the 
word  "  begetter  "  in  the  present  passage  under  the  definition  "  agent  that 
originates,  produces,  or  occasions."] 

Tyler:  To  the  "  only  begetter  "  eternity  had  been  "  promised  by  our  ever- 
living  poet;  "  for  no  other  construction  is  at  all  reasonable  or  probable.  There 
is  thus  a  manifest  reference  to  the  numerous  places  in  the  Sonnets  in  which  the 
poet  promised  to  the  beautiful  youth  he  addressed  "  a  life  beyond  life."  .  .  . 
[The  view  that  Mr.  W.  H.'s  merit  was  that  of  collector  of  the  Sonnets]  can 
scarcely  appear  in  any  way  likely.  Moreover,  there  is  in  the  Sonnets  one  place 
particularly  which  should  go  very  far  towards  determining  the  sense  of  the 
disputed  words,  [38,  5-14.]  Here  the  beautiful  youth  appears  as  the  cause  of 
the  poet's  writing  verses  "  worthy  perusal."  Whoever  invokes  this  powerful 
aid  is  to  "  bring  forth  eternal  numbers  to  outlive  long  date."  The  quotation 
thus  made  must  go  far  towards  fixing  the  sense  of  "  the  only  begetter."  .  .  . 
[As  to  the  objection  that  the  beautiful  youth  is  not  the  subject  of  all  the  Son- 
nets:] he  is  the  subject  of  very  much  the  larger  portion,  and  this  portion,  more- 
over, stands  first,  and  next  after  the  Dedication.  He  might,  therefore,  very 
well  be  spoken  of  as  "  the  onlie  begetter  of  these  insuing  sonnets."   (pp.  13-14.) 

Verity:  Surely  it  was  a  dies  nefastus  on  which  these  ill-omened  words  [of  the 
Dedication]  were  written;  surely  the  man  who  penned  them  was  capable  of  all 
the  infamies  which  Horace  assigned  to  the  unknown  planter  of  a  certain  tree; 
capable,  as  Voltaire  said  of  "meek,  unconscious"  Habakkuk,  capable  de  tout. 
Who  was  this  impalpable  "  W.  H."?  What  does  "  only  begetter"  mean?  .  .  . 


THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  9 

The  words  seem  so  simple;  as  if  they  could  only  mean  one  thing;  as  if  "  be- 
getter "  must  be  equivalent  to  "  inspirer."  [Against  this  there  are  ingenious 
arguments;]  but  the  majority  of  writers  agree  that  "  begetter  "  does  mean 
"  inspirer,"  and  that  "  only  begetter  "  might  fairly  be  said  of  the  person  to 
whom  126  of  the  sonnets  are  directly  addressed,  and  with  whom  the  remaining 
poems  are  more  or  less  concerned.    (Intro.,  pp.  399-401.) 

Lee:  Few  books  of  the  16th  or  17th  century  were  ushered  into  the  world 
without  a  dedication.  In  most  cases  it  was  the  work  of  the  author,  but  numer- 
ous volumes,  besides  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  are  extant  in  which  the  publisher  (and  not 
the  author)  fills  the  rdle  of  dedicator.  The  cause  of  the  substitution  is  not  far 
to  seek.  The  signing  of  the  dedication  was  an  assertion  of  full  and  responsible 
ownership  in  the  publication,  and  the  publisher  in  Sh.'s  lifetime  was  the  full 
and  responsible  owner  of  a  publication  quite  as  often  as  the  author.  .  .  .  When 
a  volume  in  the  reigns  of  Elizabeth  or  James  I  was  published  independently  of 
the  author,  the  publisher  exercised  unchallenged  all  the  owner's  rights,  not  the 
least  valued  of  which  was  that  of  choosing  the  patron  of  the  enterprise,  and  of 
penning  the  dedicatory  compliment.  ...  As  a  rule  one  of  only  two  inferences 
is  possible  when  a  publisher's  name  figured  at  the  foot  of  a  dedicatory  epistle: 
either  the  author  was  ignorant  of  the  publisher's  design,  or  he  had  refused  to 
countenance  it,  and  was  openly  defied.  [In  the  case  of  the  Sonnets  the  former  is 
the  natural  explanation.]  ...  In  framing  the  dedication  Thorpe  followed  estab- 
lished precedent.  Initials  run  riot  over  Elizabethan  and  Jacobean  books. 
Printers  and  publishers,  authors  and  contributors  of  prefatory  communica- 
tions, were  all  in  the  habit  of  masking  themselves  behind  such  symbols.  Patrons 
figured  under  initials  in  dedications  somewhat  less  frequently  than  other  sharers 
in  the  book's  production.  But  the  conditions  determining  the  employment  of 
initials  in  that  relation  were  well  defined.  The  employment  of  initials  in  a 
dedication  was  a  recognized  mark  of  a  close  friendship  or  intimacy  between 
patron  and  dedicator.  It  was  a  sign  that  the  patron's  fame  was  limited  to  a 
small  circle,  and  that  the  revelation  of  his  full  name  was  not  a  matter  of  interest 
to  a  wide  public.  .  .  .  There  was  nothing  exceptional  in  the  words  of  greeting 
which  Thorpe  addressed  to  his  patron  "  Mr.  W.  H."  They  followed  a  widely 
adopted  formula.  Dedications  of  the  time  usually  consisted  of  two  distinct 
parts.  There  was  a  dedicatory  epistle,  which  might  touch  at  any  length,  in 
either  verse  or  prose,  on  the  subject  of  the  book  and  the  writer's  relations  with 
his  patron.  But  there  was  usually,  in  addition,  a  preliminary  salutation  con- 
fined to  such  a  single  sentence  as  Thorpe  displayed.  .  .  .  There  is  hardly  a  book 
published  by  Robert  Greene  between  1580  and  1592  that  does  not  open  with  an 
adjuration  before  the  dedicatory  epistle,  in  the  form:  "  To Rob- 
ert Greene  wisheth  increase  of  honour  with  the  full  fruition  of  perfect  felicity." 
Thorpe,  in  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  left  the  salutation  to  stand  alone,  and  omitted  the 
supplement  of  a  dedicatory  epistle;  but  this,  too,  was  not  unusual.  [Cf.  Spenser's 
dedication  of  F.  Q.\  Drayton's  of  Idea  and  Poems  Lyric  and  Pastoral;  Braithwaite 
of  his  Golden  Fleece.]  But  Thorpe  was  too  self-assertive  to  be  a  slavish  imitator. 
His  addiction  to  bombast,  and  his  elementary  appreciation  of  literature,  recom- 


io  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE 

mended  to  him  the  practice  of  incorporating  in  his  dedicatory  salutation  some 
high-sounding  embellishments  of  the  accepted  formula,  suggested  by  his 
author's  writing.  In  his  dedication  of  the  Sonnets  to  "  Mr.  W.  H."  he  grafted 
on  the  common  formula  a  reference  to  the  immortality  which  Sh.,  after  the 
habit  of  contemporary  sonnetteers,  promised  the  hero  of  his  sonnets  in  the 
pages  that  succeeded.  ...  It  is  obvious  that  he  did  not  employ  "  begetter  "  in 
the  ordinary  sense.  "  Begetter,"  when  literally  interpreted  as  applied  to  a 
literary  work,  means  father,  author,  producer,  and  it  cannot  be  seriously  urged 
that  Thorpe  intended  to  describe  "  Mr.  W.  H."  as  the  author  of  the  Sonnets. 
"  Begetter  "  has  been  used  in  the  figurative  sense  of  inspirer,  and  it  is  often 
assumed  that  by  "  only  begetter  "  Thorpe  meant  "  sole  inspirer,"  and  that  by 
the  use  of  those  words  he  intended  to  hint  at  the  close  relations  subsisting  be- 
tween "W.  H."  and  Sh.  in  the  dramatist's  early  life;  but  that  interpretation 
presents  numberless  difficulties.  It  was  contrary  to  Thorpe's  aims  in  business 
to  invest  a  dedication  with  any  cryptic  significance  and  thus  mystify  his  cus- 
tomers. Moreover,  his  career  and  the  circumstances  under  which  he  became 
the  publisher  of  the  Sonnets  confute  the  assumption  that  he  was  in  such  rela- 
tions with  Sh.  or  with  Sh.'s  associates  as  would  give  him  any  knowledge  of 
Sh.'s  early  career  that  was  not  public  property.  .  .  .  When  Thorpe  had  the  luck 
to  acquire  surreptitiously  an  unprinted  MS.  by  "  our  ever-living  poet,"  it  was 
not  in  the  great  man's  circle  of  friends  or  patrons,  to  which  hitherto  he  had  had 
no  access,  that  he  was  likely  to  seek  his  own  patron.  ..."  Beget  "  was  not 
infrequently  employed  in  the  attenuated  sense  of  "  get,"  "  procure,"  or  "ob- 
tain," a  sense  which  is  easily  deducible  from  the  original  one  of  "  bring  into 
being."  Hamlet,  when  addressing  the  players,  bids  them  "in  the  very  whirl- 
wind of  passion  acquire  and  beget  a  temperance  that  may  give  it  smoothness." 
[See  also  the  passage  in  Dekker,  quoted  by  Boswell.]  Mr.  W.  H.,  whom  Thorpe 
described  as  "  the  only  begetter  of  these  ensuing  sonnets,"  was  in  all  prob- 
ability the  acquirer  or  procurer  of  the  MS.,  who,  figuratively  speaking,  brought 
the  book  into  being  either  by  first  placing  the  MS.  in  Thorpe's  hands  or  by 
pointing  out  the  means  by  which  a  copy  might  be  acquired.  To  assign  such 
significance  to  the  word  "  begetter  "  was  entirely  in  Thorpe's  vein.    {Life,  pp. 

391-92,  397-99.  404^05-) 

Butler,  [(Ath.,  Dec.  24,  1898,  p.  907),  writing  without  reference  to  Lee's 
argument,  traces  the  history  of  the  view  that  "  begetter  "  means  "  obtainer," 
and  remarks  that  it  has  always  been  the  resort  of  advocates  of  a  doubtful 
theory  of  the  Sonnets.  To  this  Alfred  Ainger  replies  (Jan.  14,  1899,  p.  59), 
defending  Lee's  view,  and  asserting  that  Sh.  himself  uses  "  beget  "  in  the  gen- 
eral sense  of  "  procure  "  quite  as  often  as  in  the  sense  of  producing  children. 
He  further  suggests  that  the  Dedication  may  be  humorously  intended,  like 
Thorpe's  dedication  of  Marlowe's  Lucan  to  his  friend  Blount,  —  that  he]  is 
indulging  a  like  strain  of  chaff  at  the  expense  of  Mr.  W.  H.  himself,  suggesting 
that  he  will  obtain  immortality  (that  of  a  fly  in  amber)  by  going  down  to  pos- 
terity as  the  "  dedicatee  "  of  Sh.'s  "  ever-living  "  poems.  If  this  was  so,  Mr. 
Thorpe  has  proved  himself  a  prophet  of  no  common  order.  [Further,  on  Jan.  28, 


THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  u 

p.  121 :]  I  do  not  suppose  that  even  Mr.  Lee  would  plead  that  the  word  "be- 
getter "  was  a  natural  word  for  Mr.  Thorpe  to  have  used.  But  the  whole  style 
of  the  dedication  is  euphuistic  —  the  vein  of  Armado  or  Osric  —  and  the  first 
thought  of  euphuists  of  that  calibre  was  never  to  use  a  common  word  when  an 
uncommon  one  would  do. 

Butler,  [in  his  edition  of  the  Sonnets,  1899,  reproduces  the  contents  of  his 
letter  of  the  preceding  year,  and  argues  at  length  against  the  Lee  interpretation 
of  "  begetter."  His  most  important  contribution  concerns  the  passage  from 
Dekker's  Satiromastix,  first  cited  by  Boswell:]  Struck  with  the  fact  that  Dr. 
Murray  has  not  cited  the  foregoing  passage  from  Dekker,  ...  I  turned  to 
Dekker's  Satiromastix,  and  find  that  the  passage  in  question  is  put  into  the 
mouth  of  Sir  Rees  Ap  Vaughan,  a  Welshman,  who  by  way  of  humour  is  repre- 
sented as  murdering  the  English  language  all  through  the  piece.  I  then  under- 
stood why  Dr.  Murray  did  not  refer  to  it  and  why  Mr.  Sidney  Lee  [did  not 
repeat  the  reference  in  his  Life  of  Sh.  which  he  had  given  in  the  D.  N.  B.]\  but 
I  did  not  and  do  not  understand  how  Boswell  could  have  adduced  it,  unless 
in  the  hope  of  hoodwinking  unwary  readers,  who  he  knew  would  accept  his 
statement  without  verifying  it.  This  single  factitious  example  has  done  duty 
with  Southamptonites  and  impersonalites  for  the  last  80  years,  without  any- 
one's having  been  able  to  cap  it  with  another.  .  .  .  Another  consideration  of 
less  weight  .  .  .  arises  from  the  prefixing  the  word  "only"  to  "begetter"  in 
Thorpe's  preface.  The  fact  that  the  Sonnets  are  so  almost  exclusively  conver- 
sant, directly  or  indirectly,  about  a  single  person,  suggests  that  they  would  all 
be  in  the  hands  of  this  person,  whoever  he  may  have  been.  ...  In  this  case, 
supposing  "  begetter  "  to  mean  nothing  more  than  "  procurer,"  the  addition 
of  the  word  "  only  "  appears  too  emphatic  for  the  occasion  —  "  begetter  " 
alone  should  have  been  ample.  If  on  the  other  hand  Mr.  W.  H.  was  the  only 
cause  of  the  Sonnets  having  been  written  at  all,  the  fact  is  one  of  sufficient 
interest  and  importance  to  make  record  reasonable  even  in  a  preface  so  tersely 
worded  as  the  one  in  question.  Again,  the  word  "only"  had,  through  the 
Creed,  become  so  inseparably  associated  with  "  begotten,"  that  I  cannot 
imagine  any  one's  using  the  words  "  only  begetter  "  without  intending  the 
verb  "  beget  "  to  mean  metaphorically  what  it  means  in  "  only  begotten." 
(Intro.,  pp.  28-30.) 

Lee  [(Ath.,  Feb.  24,  1900,  p.  250)  renews  his  defense  of  his  interpretation, 
citing  definitions  in  Cotgrave  and  other  Elizabethan  lexicons;  the  Dekker  and 
Hamlet  passages  again;  Lucrece,  1005,  "  That  makes  him  honour'd,  or  begets 
him  hate  ";  Jonson,  Magn.  Lady,  I,  Epilogue,  "  Beget  him  a  reputation."  In 
general,  he  alleges,  "  get  "  and  "  getter,"  "  beget  "  and  "  begetter,"  were 
always  interchangeable  in  Elizabethan  usage;  cf.  "  getter  "  for  "  begetter  "  in 
Cor.,  IV,  v,  240:  "  A  getter  of  more  bastard  children."  To  this  Dowden  replies 
at  length,  in  the  issue  for  March  10,  p.  315,  asserting  roundly  that  no  unmis- 
takable Elizabethan  example  of  the  word  "  beget  "  in  the  sense  of  "  procure  " 
has  been  found.  Cotgrave  (who  had  been  cited  by  Lee)  does  not  give  "  beget- 
ter "  as  "  procurer,"  but  gives  both  words,  in  distinct  definitions,  as  equiva- 


12  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE 

lents  of  Engendreur.  Skinner  (also  cited  by  Lee)  does  not  gloss  "  beget  "  with 
obtinere,  but  only  the  A.S.  begettan;  for  "  beget "  the  gloss  is  gignere.  The  Sh. 
and  Jonson  passages  he  finds  to  be  examples  of  the  meaning  "  call  into  being  " 
or  "  produce,"  not  of  the  meaning  "  procure."  He  also  points  out  (independ- 
ently, it  would  seem,  of  Butler)  the  dubious  character  of  the  Dekker  passage, 
and  gives  for  the  first  time  the  full  context:  "If  I  fall  sansomely  upon  the 
Widdow,  I  have  some  cossens  Garman  at  Court,  shall  beget  you  the  reversion 
of  the  Master  of  the  Kings  Revels."  (Later,  March  24,  p.  379,  Dowden  ex- 
plains that,  when  in  his  Introduction  to  the  Sonnets,  he  had  admitted  that  this 
passage  furnished  an  example  of  "  beget  "  =  procure,  he  had  not  examined  it 
sufficiently.)  Lee  rejoins  (March  17,  p.  345),  defending  his  interpretation  of 
the  Hamlet  passage,  where  "acquire  and  beget "  are  naturally  taken  as  syno- 
nyms; citing  a  new  reference  from  Coles's  English-Latin  Dictionary  (1677), 
where  one  finds  "Beget  (procure),  concilio,  pario";  and  an  additional  Sh. 
reference,  T.  of  S.,  I,  i,  45:  "  Such  friends  as  time  in  Padua  shall  beget."  In 
the  same  number  (p.  346)  Ainger  also  replies  to  Dowden,  summing  up  the 
whole  argument  by  saying  that  "  the  primary  meaning  was  '  bring  about.'  .  .  . 
In  Mr.  Lee's  interpretation  of  the  famous  phrase,  W.  H.  is  addressed  as  the 
man  who  '  brought  about '  the  publication  of  the  Sonnets."  This  furnishes 
Butler  an  easy  opportunity  for  retorting  (March  24,  p.  379) :  "  Few  will  object 
to  reading,  '  Bringer  about  of  these  ensuing  sonnets.'  Where  is  the  legitimacy 
of  smuggling  in  the  words  '  the  publication  of  '?  "] 

Beeching:  "  The  only  begetter  "  [is]  a  phrase  which  ninety-nine  persons  out 
of  every  hundred,  even  of  those  familiar  with  Elizabethan  literature,  would 
unhesitatingly  understand  to  mean  their  inspirer,  and,  in  view  of  such  sonnets 
as  38,  76,  and  105,  and  of  the  metaphors  employed  in  78  and  86,  would  regard 
as  especially  well  chosen.  .  .  .  What  force  would  "  only  "  retain  if  "  begetter  " 
meant  "  procurer  "?  Allowing  it  to  be  conceivable  that  a  piratical  publisher 
should  inscribe  a  book  of  sonnets  to  the  thief  who  brought  him  the  MS.,  why 
should  he  lay  stress  on  the  fact  that  "  alone  he  did  it  "?  Was  it  an  enterprise 
of  such  great  peril?  Mr.  Lee  attempts  to  meet  this  and  similar  difficulties  by 
depreciating  Thorpe's  skill  in  the  use  of  language;  but  the  examples  he  quotes 
in  his  interesting  Appendix  do  not  support  his  theory.  Thorpe's  words  are 
accurately  used,  even  to  nicety,  and,  indeed,  Mr.  Lee  himself  owns  that  in 
another  matter  Thorpe  showed  a  "  literary  sense  "  and  "  a  good  deal  of  dry 
humour."  I  venture  to  affirm  that  this  dedication  also  shows  a  well-developed 
literary  sense.  In  the  next  place,  this  theory  of  the  "  procurer  "  obliges  us  to 
believe  that  Thorpe  wished  Mr.  W.  H.  that  eternity  which  the  poet  had  prom- 
ised, not  to  him,  nor  to  men  in  general,  but  to  some  undesignated  third 
party.  Mr.  Lee  calls  the  words  "  promised  by  our  ever-living  poet  "  "  a  deco- 
rative and  supererogatory  phrase."  That  is  a  very  mild  qualification  of  them 
under  the  circumstances.  But  an  examination  of  Thorpe's  other  dedications 
shows  that  his  style  was  rather  sententious  than  "  supererogatory."  Then, 
again,  on  this  theory  the  epithet  "  well-wishing  "  also  becomes  "  supereroga- 
tory." For  what  it  implies  is  that  the  adventurous  publisher's  motive  in  giving 


THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  13 

the  sonnets  to  the  world  without  their  author's  consent  was  a  good  one.  The 
person  to  whom  they  were  written  might  reasonably  expect,  though  he  would 
not  necessarily  credit,  an  assurance  on  this  head;  but  what  would  one  literary 
jackal  care  for  another's  good  intentions?  ...  I  would  add  that  the  whole  tone 
of  the  dedication,  which  is  respectful,  and  the  unusual  absence  of  a  qualifying 
phrase,  such  as  "  his  esteemed  friend,"  before  the  initials,  are  against  the  the- 
ory that  Mr.  W.  H.  was  on  the  same  social  level  as  the  publisher.  (Intro., 
pp.  xxxiv-xxxvi.) 

[Undeterred  by  his  opponents,  Lee  renews  the  exposition  of  his  theory  in 
his  introduction  to  the  Oxford  Press  facsimile  edition  of  the  Sonnets,  1905:] 
"  Begetter  "  might  mean  "  father  "  (or  "  author  ")  or  it  might  mean  "  pro- 
curer "  (or  "  acquirer  ").  There  is  no  suggestion  that  Thorpe  meant  that  Mr. 
W.  H.  was  "  author  "  of  the  sonnets.  Consequently  doubt  that  he  meant 
"  procurer  "  or  "  acquirer  "  is  barely  justifiable.  [He  renews  his  list  of  exam- 
ples, including  the  Dekker  passage  —  still  without  the  broken  English.  Fur- 
ther:] A  very  few  years  earlier  a  cognomen  almost  identical  with  "  begetter  " 
(in  the  sense  of  procurer)  was  conferred  in  a  popular  anthology,  entitled 
Belvedere  or  the  Garden  of  the  Muses,  on  one  who  rendered  its  publisher  the  like 
service  that  Mr.  VV.  H.  seems  to  have  rendered  Thorpe,  the  publisher  of  Sh.'s 
Sonnets.  One  John  Bodenham,  filling  much  the  same  role  as  that  assigned  to 
Mr.  W.  H.,  brought  together  in  1600  a  number  of  brief  extracts  ransacked  from 
the  unpublished,  as  well  as  from  the  published,  writings  of  contemporary  poets. 
Bodenham's  collections  fell  into  the  hands  of  an  enterprising  "  stationer,"  one 
Hugh  Astley,  who  published  them  under  [the  above  title,  with  a  dedicatory 
sonnet  to  John  Bodenham,  in  which  he  was  apostrophized  as]  "  First  causer  and 
collectour  of  these  floures."  In  another  address  to  the  reader  at  the  end  of  the 
book  .  .  .  the  publisher  again  refers  more  prosaically  to  Bodenham,  as  "  The 
Gentleman  who  was  the  cause  of  this  Collection"  (p.  235).  When  Thorpe 
called  "  Mr.  W.  H  "  "  the  only  begetter  of  these  insuing  sonnets,"  he  probably 
meant  no  more  than  the  organizers  of  the  publication  of  the  book  called 
Belvedere,  in  1600,  meant  when  they  conferred  the  appellations  "  first  causer  " 
and  "  the  cause  "  on  John  Bodenham,  who  was  procurer  for  them  of  the  copy 
for  that  enterprise,  (pp.  38-40.)  [Lee  also  observes  (p.  35  n.)  that  Thorpe's 
dedicatory  procedure  and  choice  of  type  were  influenced  by  Jonson's  ^orm  of 
dedication  before  the  first  edition  of  Volpone,  which  Thorpe  published  for  him 
in  1607  and  which  Eld  printed.]  On  the  first  leaf,  following  the  title,  appears 
in  short  lines  (in  the  same  fount  of  large  capitals  as  that  used  in  Thorpe's  dedi- 
cation to  "  Mr.  W.  H.")  these  words:  "  To  the  Most  Noble  |  and  Most  Aequall  | 
Sisters  |  The  Two  Famovs  Vniversities  |  For  their  Love  |  And  |  Acceptance  | 
Shewn  |  To  his  Poeme  |  in  the  Presentation  |  Ben:  Ionson  |  The  Gratefvll 
Acknowledger  |  Dedicates  |  Both  It  and  Himself e." 

W.  C.  Hazlitt:  It  would  be  a  severe  injustice  to  Thorpe  to  omit  or  refuse  to 
concede  that  credit  .  .  .  which  it  strikes  me  that  he  eminently  deserves,  as  the 
first  person  who  appears  to  have  presaged  the  enduring  fame  of  the  author. 
He  terms  him  "  Our  Ever- Living  Poet  ";  and  he  so  terms  him  in  1609,  subse- 


14  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE 

quently  to  the  far  less  emphatic  tribute  by  Jonson  in  Poetaster  in  1602,  but 
years  before  Jonson  pronounced  his  eulogium  in  the  folio  of  1623,  and  years 
upon  years  before  any  one  else  dreamed  of  taking  such  a  view.  (Sh.,  the  Man 
and  his  Work,  ed.  1912,  p.  222.) 

[The  Dedication  has  not  escaped  the  ingenuity  of  the  more  mystical  inter- 
preters. Karpf  (Die  Idee  Sh.'s,  p.  43)  believes  that  the  "  only  begetter  "  is  the 
poet's  own  soul;  and  Legis  (  N.  &  Q.,  5th  s.,  6:  421)  that  it  is  the  "  '  spirit  of 
human  knowledge  '  which  is  the  begetter  of  all  true  works."] 


S  H  A  K  B'S  F  E  ARES, 
SONNETS, 


)  From  fairest  creatures  we  desire  increase, 
£  That  thereby  beauties  Rose  might  neuer  die, 
3  But  as  the  riper  should  by  time  decease, 
if  His  tender  heire  might  beare  his  memory: 

-  But  thou  ™n*rar»tprl  to  thine  owne  bright  eyes,  5 
{,  Feed'st  thy  lights  flame  with  selfe  substantiall  fewell, 

-  Making  a  famine  where  aboundance  lies, 

i  Thy  selfe  thy  foe,  to  thy  sweet  selfe  too  cruell: 
P  Thou  that  art  now  the  worlds  fresh  ornament,  9 

ib  And  only  herauld  to  the  gaudy  spring, 
ft  Within  thine  owne  bud  buriest  thy  content, 
/^>And  tender  chorle  makst  wast  in  niggarding; 
#  Pitty  the  world,  or  else  this  glutton  be, 
ty To  eate  the  worlds  due,  by  the  graue  and  thee. 

2.  might]  may  G,  S,  E. 

3.  decease]  decrease  Hu2. 

6.  lights]  life's  But,  Wa.  selfe  substantiall]  Hyphened  by  G2,  etc. 

10.  only]  early  Godwin  conj. 
12.  chorle]  churl  G,  etc. 
14.  by  the]  be  thy  Stee  conj.;  by  thy  Godwin  conj.         and]  as  Godwin  conj. 

Boaden:  I  have  been  tempted  frequently  to  consider  [Sonnets  1— 19],  and 
many  more  of  the  collection,  as  parts  of  a  design  to  treat  the  subject  of  Adonis 
in  the  sonnet  form.    [The  resemblance  between  these  opening  sonnets  and 


16  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [i 

the  V.  &  A.  has  been  remarked  by  many  commentators,  most  recently  by 
Judge  Evans,  Sat.  Rev.,  Dec.  26,  1914.   Cf.  especially  lines  163-74:] 

Torches  are  made  to  light,  jewels  to  wear, 
Dainties  to  taste,  fresh  beauty  for  the  use, 
Herbs  for  their  smell,  and  sappy  plants  to  bear; 
Things  growing  to  themselves  are  growth's  abuse. 

Seeds  spring  from  seeds  and  beauty  breedeth  beauty; 

Thou  wast  begot;  to  get  it  is  thy  duty. 

Upon  the  earth's  increase  why  shouldst  thou  feed, 
Unless  the  earth  with  thy  increase  be  fed? 
By  law  of  nature  thou  art  bound  to  breed, 
That  thine  may  live  when  thou  thyself  art  dead; 

And  so,  in  spite  of  death,  thou  dost  survive, 

In  that  thy  likeness  still  is  left  alive. 

Isaac:  Cf.  Daniel's  Delia,  Sonnets  34-35: 

Look,  Delia!  how  we  'steem  the  half -blown  rose,  .  .  . 

No  sooner  spreads  her  glory  in  the  air, 

But  straight  her  full-blown  pride  is  in  declining; 

She  then  is  scorned,  that  late  adorned  the  fair. 

So  clouds  thy  beauty,  after  fairest  shining!  .  .  . 

O  let  not  then  such  riches  waste  in  vain! 

But  love,  whilst  that  thou  may'st  be  loved  again!    [etc.] 

[After  examining  the  parallels  here,  Isaac  concludes,  because  of  the  equally 
striking  parallels  in  V.  &  A.  and  some  of  the  early  plays,  that  Sh.  was 
probably  the  first  t3  develop  the  idea.  (Jahrb.,  17:177-81.)]  Massey: 
Cf.  Sidney's  Arcadia:  "  Beauty  ...  is  the  crown  of  the  feminine  greatness; 
which  gift,  on  whomsoever  the  heavens  (therein  most  niggarqyy)  do  bestow, 
without  question  she  is  bound  to  use  it  to  the  noble  purpose  for  which  it  is 
created."  [1590  ed.,  f.  279.]  .  .  .  [These]  sonnets  on  marriage  could  not  have 
been  written  until  after  Sh.  had  read  the  Arcadia,    (pp.  73,  71.) 

Verity  [also  cites  as  a  parallel  Drayton's  Legend  of  Matilda;  but  the  resem- 
blance is  confined  to  a  few  lines  in  stanzas  34  and  70: 

Hoard  not  thy  beauty,  when  thou  hast  such  store; 
Were  't  not  great  pity  it  should  thus  lie  dead, 
Which  by  thy  lending  might  be  made  much  more? 
For  by  the  .use  should  every  thing  be  fed.  .  .  . 
'T  were  pity  thou  by  niggardise  shouldst  thrive, 
Whose  wealth  by  waxing  craveth  to  be  spent.] 

Lee:  The  opening  sequence  of  17  sonnets,  in  which  a  youth  of  rank  and 
wealth  is  admonished  to  marry  and  beget  a  son  so  that  "  his  fair  house  "  may 
not  fall  into  decay,  can  only  have  been  addressed  to  a  young  peer  .  .  .  who 
was  as  yet  unmarried.   {Life,  p.  142.)   [On  this  see  further  the  notes  on  S.  13. 


i]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  17 

—  Ed.]  Walsh:  It  has  been  supposed  that  these  sonnets  were  actually 
addressed  by  Sh.  to  a  Mr.  W.  H.,  or  to  some  friend  or  patron,  with  the  bona- 
fide  intention  of  persuading  him  to  marry,  although  (except  for  a  slight  allu- 
sion in  9,  1,  and  still  slighter  in  8,  6-9)  there  is  not  a  word  in  them  on  the 
subject  of  marriage.  It  is  possible.  It  is  also  possible  that  they  are  imaginary. 
.  .  .  Possibly  some  of  these  sonnets  were  composed  with  the  intention  of 
representing  [the  wooing  of  the  fair  young  friend  by  the  dark  lady  of  certain 
of  the  sonnets].  If  so,  we  should  have  here  the  same  situation  as  in  the  poem 
of  V.  &  A.,  in  which  Venus  urges  Adonis  to  breed,  in  words  very  similar  to 
some  here  repeated.  [Cf.  lines  129-32,  751-68.]  ...  At  all  events,  it  is  not 
improbable  that  most  of  the  sonnets  in  this  section  were  written  about  the 
same  time  with  V.  &  A.  .  .  .  Ideas  similar  to  the  chief  topic  now  under 
treatment  are  found  in  the  plays  only  in  application  to  women.  Cf.  R.  &  J., 
I,  i,  221-26;    T.N.,  I,  v,  259-61;  A.W.,  I,  i,  136-78. 

Delius  [believes  this  group  of  sonnets  to  be  one  of  the  striking  disproofs 
of  the  personal  or  autobiographical  theory  of  the  collection.]  In  order  to 
persuade  a  friend  to  marry,  many  kinds  of  reasons  could  profitably  be  urged: 
concern  for  his  own  moral  and  material  welfare  in  the  founding  of  a  domestic 
circle  or  in  the  respected  position  of  a  husband  and  father;  the  desirable  pos- 
session of  a  feminine  personality,  distinguished  for  beauty,  wit,  birth,  or 
property,  which  the  poet  might,  with  this  intention,  sketch  in  the  most  allur- 
ing colors;  finally,  if  the  friend  were  an  Earl  of  Southampton  or  a  Pembroke, 
a  reference  to  Noblesse  oblige,  —  to  the  obligation  not  to  let  a  noble  race  die 
out,  but  to  progress  in  distinction.  Of  all  these  and  similar  grounds  with 
which  a  man  of  flesh  and  blood  might  persuade  a  real  friend  to  marriage,  we 
find  in  all  these  sonnets  not  one  so  much  as  touched  upon,  and  instead  of  them 
only  this  one  argument,  discussed  even  to  satiety:  You  are  beautiful,  and 
must  therefore  care  for  the  preservation  of  your  beairtyjthrough  reproduction, 

—  an  argument  which,  in  Story-land  and  addressed  to  the  coy  Adonis  by, 
lovesick' Yenus,  might  find  some  justification,  but  which  could  never,  in  the 
actual  relations  of  life,  have  been  seriously  advanced  by  a  reasonable  man 
such  as  we  take  Sh.  to  have  been,  in  order  to  persuade  another  —  it  is  to  be 
hoped  also  reasonable  —  man,  his  friend,  to  marry.    (Jahrb.,  91 :  36-37.) 

1-2.  Simpson:  The  doctrine  which  Sh.  puts  into  the  two  opening  lines  of 
his  sonnets,  to  be  as  it  were  the  text  and  motto  of  the  whole,  [is  Platonic]. 
With  Plato  .  .  .  Love  is  universally,  in  the  highest  and  lowest  forms  alike,  an 
impulse  of  generation.  ...  Its  first  human  impulse  is  to  produce  a  semblance 
of  immortality  by  generating,  through  a  person  beloved  for  beauty,  a  new 
person,  to  replace  the  original  one  in  its  decay  {Symposium,  c.  32),  and  thus 
to  preserve  the  immortality  of  the  species  amidst  the  destruction  of  the 
individual.  OTthis  impulse  Beantv  is  the  fu.ej;  and  '™">  fciadtod  by  beauty  is 
not  precisely  the  love  of  beauty,  but  of  generation  in  the  beautiful,  iarl  yhp 
oi>  tov  kcl\ov  6  epws,  dXXd  rrjs  yevvqereoos  kclI  tov  t6kov  iv  r$  KaXcjJ.    (pp.  19—20.) 

2.  Rose.  [The  use  of  italics  here  has  given  rise  to  much  discussion,  edifying 


1 8  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [i 

more  or  less.  The  note  of  Wyndham,  on  "  The  Typography  of  the  Quarto, 
considered  in  its  bearing  on  the  authority  of  that  text,"  p.  259  of  his  edition 
of  the  Poems,  and  Sir  Sidney  Lee's  introduction  to  the  Oxford  facsimile  edi- 
tion, well  represent  the  opposing  attitudes.  See  further  on  Hews  in  20,  7.  — 
Ed.]  Wyndham:  Excepting  Rose,  1,2;  Hews,  20,  7 ;  Informer ,  125,  13;  and  the 
Wills,  135,  136,  143,  every  word  so  printed  is  either  a  proper  name,  or  else, 
of  Greek  or  Latin  extraction.  Viz.:  Audit,  4,  12;  Adonis,  Hellens,  Grecian, 
53,  5,  7,  8;  Statues,  55,  5;  .  .  .  Mars,  55,  7;  Intrim,  56,  9;  Alien,  78,  3;  Eaves 
apple,  93,  13;  Saturne,  98,  4;  Satire,  100,  11;  Philomell,  102,  7;  Autumne, 
104,  5;  Abisme,  112,  9;  Alcumie,  114,  4;  Syren,  119,  1;  Heriticke,  124,  9; 
Audite,  Quietus,  126,  II,  12;  Cupid,  Dyans,  Cupid,  153,  1,  2,  14.  These  words, 
if  other  than  proper  names,  were  so  printed  then,  as  French  words  are  so 
printed  now,  viz.:  because  they  were  but  partially  incorporated  into  the 
English  language.  This  destroys  the  presumption  of  accident  and  creates  a 
presumption  of  design,  (p.  260.)  Lee:  It  was  the  natural  tendency  to  itali- 
cize unfamiliar  or  foreign  words  and  names  and  to  give  them  an  initial  capital 
in  addition.  But  the  printer  of  the  sonnets  usually  went  his  own  way  without 
heed  of  law  or  custom.  "  Rose  "  is  used  12  times:  it  is  italicized  once  (1,2); 
the  names  of  other  flowers  are  not  italicized  at  all  (cf.  25,  6;  94,  14;  98,  9; 
99,  6).  "  Alchemy  "  (alcumie)  is  used  twice:  it  is  once  italicized  (114,  4)  and 
once  not  (33,  4).  "  Audite  "  is  used  thrice,  and  is  twice  italicized.  "  Autumn" 
appears  twice,  and  is  once  italicized:  "  spring,"  "  summer,"  and  "winter" 
are  never  thus,  distinguished.  .  .  .  The  following  words  of  like  class  to  those 
italicized  in  the  sonnets  lack  that  mark  of  distinction:  Orient  (7,  1);  Phaenix 
(19,  4);  Muse  (32,  10  et  al.  loc);  Ocean  (64,  5);  Epitaph  (81,  1);  Rhetorick 
(82,  10);  Charter  (87,  3);  cryttick  (112,  11);  cherubines  (114,  6);  Phisitions 
(140,  8).  (pp.  48-49.)  Simpson:  The  word  here  is  full  of  import.  In  the  range 
of  its  associations  it  reaches  from  the  meaning  that  must  be  given  to  it  in 
much  of  the  Rcmaunt  of  the  Rose  to  the  sublime  conception  of  Dante  in  the 
30th  and  31st  cantos  of  his  Paradiso.  The  aspiration  for  the  immortality  of 
the  "  rose  of  beauty  "  is  the  root  of  love.  (p.  47.)  Fleay  [at  one  time  believed 
that  there  might  be  an  allusion  to  the  Rose  theatre,  and  Sh.'s  connection 
with  it  in  1593-96.]  (Macm.  Mag.,  31:  440.)  Wyndham:  ''Beaiity^sRoje  " 
stands  here  poetically  for  the  Idea  or  Eternal  Type  of  Beauty,  or,  at  least, 
for  the  emblem  of  that  idea.  ...  It  is  used  to  this  end  with  a  capital,  67,  8, 
and,  again  with  a  capital,  as  the  emblem  of  the  friend,  109,  14.  (p.  261.) 
XBuFwhy  not  with  italics  again,  if  the  quarto  was  as  carefully  printed  as 
Wyndham  supposed?  —  Ed.]  Creighton  [compares  this  line  with  95,  8, 
which  he  thinks  proves  that  Sh.  knew  the  friend  by  the  name  of  Rose,  and  is 
able  to  connect  the  name  with  Pembroke's  courtesy  title  of  "  lord  Ros  of 
Kendal."]  (Blackwood,  169:  672  f.)  Porter:  A  poetic  emblem  of  flowering 
beautv.  .  .  .  This  special  meaning  deserves  the  capital  and  italics. 

4.  Massey:  An  allusion  to  the  early  death  of  [Southampton's]  father. 

(P-  55.) 

5.  contracted.  Schmidt:  Betrothed.  [So  Rolfe  and  Beeching;  the  former 


i]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  19 

cites  T.N.,  V,  i,  268:  "  You  would  have  been  contracted  to  a  maid."  It  is  more 
than  doubtful,  however,  whether  an  apter  parallel  is  not  to  be  found  in  Haml., 
I,  ii,  4:  "  Our  whole  kingdom  to  be  contracted  in  one  brow  of  woe."  The  con- 
text, at  any  rate,  suggests  the  notion  "  confined  within  the  operation  of  your 
own  eyes."  This  is  close  to  Tyler's  paraphrase:  "  Not  having  given  exten- 
sion to  thyself  in  offspring."  —  Ed.]  eyes.  Tyler:  Mr.  W.  H.'s  "bright 
eyes  "  are  regarded  as  the  central  point  or  focus  of  his  beauty. 

6.  selfe  substantiall.  Dowden:  Fuel  of  the  substance  of  the  flame  itself. 
Wvndham:  Fuel  of  the  same  substance  as  thy  i(  light's  flame,"  viz.:  thine 
eye-sight. 

9-10.  Massey:  [Cf.  the  Dedication  to  V.  &  A.,  where]  the  poet  hopes  that 
his  young  patron  may  answer  to  the  "  world's  hopeful  expectation."  .  .  . 
In  both  we  have  Hope  a-tiptoe  at  gaze  on  this  new  wonder  of  youth  and 
beauty,  (p.  48.)  Tyler:  Expressions  suitable  in  the  case  of  a  youth  but  just 
eighteen  [i.e.,  Pembroke]. 

10.  only.  Schmidt:  Principal,  chief.  Sharp:  Matchless,  incomparable. 
Beeching:  The  first  bright  flower  of  a  new  spring.  The  idea  of  the  third 
quatrain  seems  to  be  that  W.  H.  might,  if  he  pleased,  enrich  the  world  with  a 
more  beautiful  race  of  mortals. 

12.     *Capell:  Cf.  R.  cV  /.,  I,  i,  223-26: 

Then  she  hath  sworn  that  she  will  still  live  chaste? 
—  She  hath,  and  in  that  sparing  makes  huge  waste; 
For  beauty  starv'd  with  her  severity 
Cuts  beauty  off  from  all  posterity. 

tender  chorle.  [According  to  Percy  Simpson,  a  regular  example  of  the  voca- 
tive without  commas;  cf.  M.V.,  IV,  i,  335  (Folio):  "  Now  infidell  I  have  thee 
on  the  hip,"  and  many  similar  passages.    (Sh.  Punctuation,  p.  21.)] 

14.  Steevens:  I  read  (piteous  constraint  to  read  such  stuff  at  all!),  "To 
eat  the  world's  due,  be  thy  grave  and  thee;  "  i.e.,  be  at  once  thyself,  and  thy 
grave.  ...  I  did  not  think  the  late  Mr.  Rich  had  such  example  for  the  con- 
trivance of  making  Harlequin  jump  down  his  own  throat.  Malone:  Sh. 
considers  the  propagation  of  the  species  as  "  the  world's  due."  as  a  right  .  .  . 
which  it  may  demand  from  every  individual.  .  .  .  "  If  yon  do  not  fulfil  this 
4uty,  acknowledge  that,  as  a  glutton  swallows  and  consumes  more  than  is 

sufficient  for  his  Q\yn  flllpport,  HO  VOIl  r-  .  rnngnme   and   destroy  '  fhe  worlrl'g 

due  ';  to  the  desolation  of  which  vou  will  doubly  contribute:  1.  by  thy  dpath; 
2.  by  thy  dving  childless."  Our  author's  plays,  as  well  as  the  poems  now 
before  us,  affording  a  sufficient  number  of  conceits,  it  is  rather  hard  that  he 
should  be  answerable  for  such  as  can  only  be  obtained  through  the  medium 
of  alteration;  that  he  should  be  ridiculed  not  only  for  what  he  has,  but  for 
what  he  has  not  written,  the  grave  and  thee.  Dowden:  Bv  means  of  the 
grave  (which  will  swallow  your  beauty  —  cf.  S.  77.  6),  and  of  yourself,  who 
refuse,  to  beget  offspring.  Cf.  A.W.,  I,  i,  153:  "  Virginity  ,  ,  ,  cnnQiimeg  itwlf 
to  the  very  paring,  and  so  dies  with  feeding  his.  own  stomach  "    WYNDHAM : 


20  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [n 

Your  death,  and  your  refusal  to  propagate  your  beauty.  J.  W.  Bright  [would 
take  "by"  with  "due":  "due  at  the  hands  of"  or  "owed  by."  (Mod.  Lang. 
Notes,  14:  186.)] 

For  a  17th  century  MS.  version  of  lines  5-14,  see  notes  under  S.  2. 


2 

When  fortie  Winters  shall  beseige  thy  brow, 

And  digge  deep  trenches  in  thy  beauties  field, 

Thy  youthes  proud  liuery  so  gaz'd  on  now, 

Wil  be  a  totter'd  weed  of  smal  worth  held : 

Then  being  askt,  where  all  thy  beautie  lies,  5 

Where  all  the  treasure  of  thy  lusty  daies; 

To  say  within  thine  owne  deepe  sunken  eyes, 

Were  an  all-eating  shame,  and  thriftlesse  praise. 

How  much  more  praise  deseru'd  thy  beauties  vse,  9 

If  thou  couldst  answere  this  faire  child  of  mine 

Shall  sum  my  count,  and  make  my  old  excuse 

Proouing  his  beautie  by  succession  thine. 

This  were  to  be  new  made  when  thou  art  ould, 
And  see  thy  blood  warme  when  thou  feel'st  it  could, 

4.  totter'd]  tatter' d  G,  etc.  (except  Bull,  Wa). 

7.  within  .  .  .  eyes]  Italics  by  Co3.  owne]  one  S1. 

deepe  sunken]  Hyphened  by  G2,  etc.  (except  A). 
10-11.  this  .  .  .  excuse]    Quoted  by  M,  etc.  (except  Co3,  Hu2);  italics  by 
Co3,  Hu2. 
11.  old]  whole  Hazlitt,  But. 

1.  fortie  winters.  Schmidt:  Used  for  an  indefinite  number.  [Besides  the 
parallels  cited  by  Schmidt,  see  Elze,  to  the  same  effect,  Jahrb.,  11:  288.] 
Butler:  [Since  in  it  the  poet  views  men  of  forty  as  old,]  I  hold  that  this  son- 
net can  only  have  been  written  by  one  who  was  still  very  young,  (p.  89.) 
Rolfe:  Schmidt  puts  this  passage  among  those  in  which  "  forty  "  is  used  for 
"  an  indefinite  number  "  (as  often);  but  the  context  shows  that  it  has  distinct 
reference  to  age.  [This  note  I  cannot  understand;  of  course  the  phrase  has 
reference  to  age,  and  of  course  to  an  indefinite  age.  —  Ed.]  Dowden:  Sh. 
fixes  on  so  early  an  age  as  forty  because,  had  he  said  fifty,  it  might  have 
allowed  time  for  his  friend's  son  to  pass  beyond  the  point  of  youthful  per- 
fection to  which  Sh.'s  friend  has  now  attained.  .  .  .  Perhaps  the  forty  years 
are  counted  from  the  present  age  of  the  young  friend,  bringing  him  thus  to 


n]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  21 

about  sixty  years  of  age.  .  .  .  Krauss  cites  from  Sidney's  Arcadia  two  exam- 
ples of  "  forty  winters." 

2.  Von  Mauntz:  Cf.  Ovid,  Med.  Forma,  46:  "  Et  placitus  rugis  vultus 
aratus  erit;  "  and  Tristia,  III,  vii,  33-34: 

Ista  decens  facies  longis  vitiabitur  annis, 
Rugaque  in  antiqua  fronte  senilis  erit. 

4.  totter'd.  Bullen:  A  recognised  form  of  "  tattered  ";  scores  and  scores 
of  examples  of  it  may  be  found,  and  I  have. not  hesitated  to  restore  it  to  the 
text. 

7.  eyes.  Porter:  The  eyes  here,  as  in  S.  1,  6,  and  often  by  the  poet,vare 
regarded  as  the  house  of  the  individual  spirit  of  life. 

8.  all-eating  shame.  Tyler:  Shame  which  consumes  the  person  guilty  of 
so  shameful  conduct,  with  his  posterity,   thriftless.    Dowden:  Unprofitable. 

11.  sum  my  count,  etc.  [Cf.  4,  12.  —  Ed.]  my  old  excuse.  Delius:  My 
excuse  when  I,  or  that  I,  am  old.  [So  Rolfe.]  Dowden:  The  excuse  of  my 
oldness.  Tyler:  The  account  will  be  .  .  .  settled  by  his  son,  whose  youthful 
beauty  will  furnish  an  excuse  for  Mr.  W.  H.'s  oldness,  or,  perhaps,  will  fur- 
nish the  old  and  customary  excuse  by  proving  that  he  has  inherited  the 
beauty  of  his  father.  Beeching:  Stand  for  the  whole  treasure  of  beauty  com- 
mitted to  me  (being  indeed  my  own),  and  so  make  excuse  for  my  age.  Wynd- 
ham:  Old  may  be  a  noun  for  "  eld,"  as  in  68,  12:  "  Robbing  no  old."  [But  this 
is  no  parallel,  for  in  68,  12  "  old  "  means  "  old  object,"  correlatively  with 
"  new  "  for  "  new  object."  —  Ed.]  ...  In  that  case  excuse  is  a  participle  for 
"  excused."  [The  construction  remains  doubtful.  The  N.  E.  D.,  though  list- 
ing "  old  "  with  the  meaning  "  old  age,"  gives  no  clear  example  later  than 
Middle  English.  —  Ed.] 

Exceptional  popularity  in  the  17th  century  seems  to  be  indicated  for  this 
sonnet  by  the  survival  of  a  number  of  MS.  copies.  Some  of  these  were  de- 
scribed in  The  Athenceum,  July  26,  Aug.  2,  and  Sept.  6,  1913;  pp.  89,  112,  230. 
One  is  in  the  British  Museum,  in  Sloane  MS.  1792,  for  a  careful  account  of 
which  I  am  indebted  to  Professor  Charles  W.  Wallace.  Dr.  Wallace's  con- 
clusions are  that  the  MS.  is  probably  an  exercise  book  of  a  student  at  Christ 
Church,  with  tutorial  corrections,  and  dates  from  the  Restoration  period. 
The  text  of  Sonnet  2  is  as  follows: 

To  one  that  would  die  a  Mayd 
When  forty  winters  shall  beseige  thy  brow 
And  trench  deepe  furrowes  in  that  louely  feild 
Thy  youth  faire  liuerie  soe  accounted  now 
Shall  bee  like  like  rotten  weedes  of  noe  worth  heild 

Then  being  ask't  where  all  thy  beauty  lies 
Where  all  the  lustre  of  thy  youthfull  dayes 
To  say  within  thes  hollow  suncken  eyes 
Were  an  alleaten  truth,  and  worthies  pleasure. 


22  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [n 

How  better  were  thy  beauties  use 
If  thou  couldst  say  this  prittie  childe  of  mine 
Saues  my  account  and  makes  my  old  excuse 
Making  his  beauty  by  succession  thine 

This  were  to  bee  new  borne  when  thou  art  old 
•And  see  thy  bloud  warme,  when  thou  feelst  it  cold. 

A  second  copy,  with  the  same  title,  appears  in  a  commonplace  book  lately  in 
the  possession  of  Mr.  Bertram  Dobell,  in  company  with  other  poems  dating 
from  the  first  half  of  the  16th  century.   The  text  follows: 

To  one  that  would  dye  a  Mayd 
When  forty  winters  shall  besiege  thy  brow, 
And  trench  deepe  furrowes  in  that  lovely  field 
Thy  youths  fayre  livery,  so  accounted  now, 
Shall  be  like  rotten  cloaths  of  no  worth  held. 

Then  being  askt  where  all  thy  beauty  lies 
Where  all  the  lustre  of  thy  youthfull  daies: 
To  say,  within  these  hollow  sunken  eyes: 
Were  an  all  beaten  Truth,  and  worthlesse  prayse. 

O  how  much  better  were  thy  beauties  use 
If  thou  couldst  say,  this  pretty  child  of  mine 
Saves  my  account,  and  makes  no  old  excuse 
Making  his  beauty  by  succession  thine! 
This  were  to  bee  new  borne,  when  thou  art  old 
And  see  thy  blood  warme  when  thou  feelst  it  could. 

A  third  copy  occurs  in  a  MS.  in  the  Library  of  St.  John's  College,  (Cambridge 
(MS.  S.  23),  together  with  extracts  from  Carew,  Randolph,  Davenant,  and 
others.  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  G.  C.  Macaulay  for  the  following  transcript  and 
notes: 

when  fortie  winters  shall  beseege  the  browe, 
And  dig  deepe  trenches  in  thy  beauties  field, 
Thy  youthes  proude  liuery  so  gazed  on  now 
will  be  a  tatterd  weede,  of  small  worth  held. 
Then  beeing  asked  where  all  thy  beautie  lyes, 
where  all  the  treasure  of  thy  lusty  dayes 
to  say  within  thine  owne  deepe  sonken  eyes, 
were  an  all  eating  shame  and  thriftlesse  praise 
how  much  more  praise  deserues  thy  beauties  use. 
If  thou  couldst  say  that  this  faire  child  of  mine 
Shall  som  my  count  and  make  thy  ould  excuse, 
prouing  his  beautie  by  succession  thine. 
This  were  to  be  new  made  when  thou  art  old. 
And  see  thy  blood  warme,  when  thou  feelst  it  cold. 

W.  Shakspere. 


n]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  23 

(The  word  "praise"  in  both  1.  8  and  I.  9  has  the  "se"  written  in  a 
contemporary  hand  over"  something  else  which  I  cannot  read.  Also 
14  use  "  in  1.  9  is  a  correction  apparently  of  "  muse,"  and  "  old  "  in 
1.  13  probably  of  "  ould.") 

In  still  another  MS.  book,  formerly  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Dobell,  but  now 
in  a  private  collection,  there  occurs  a  curious  composite  of  the  opening  lines 
of  the  sonnet  with  the  greater  portion  of  Sonnet  1  and  two  lines  from  Sonnet 
54.  The  following  transcript  is  from  a  photograph  made  by  Mr.  Dobell: 

Cruel 

Thou  Contracted  to  thine  owne  bright  eys 
Feedst  thy  light  flame  with  selfe  substantial  fewell 
Makeing  a  famine  where  aboundance  lies 
Thy  selfe  thy  foe  to  thy  sweet  selfe  too  cruell. 
Thou  that  art  now  the  worlds  fresh  ornament 
And  onely  herauld  to  ye  Gaudy  spring 
Within  thine  owne  Bud  Buriest  thy  Contend 
And  tender  Churle  makes  wast  in  niggarding 
Pitty  ye  world  or  Els  this  Glutton  bee 
To  Eat  ye  worlds  due  by  ye  world  &  thee 
When  forty  winters  shall  bisiedg  thy  brow 
And  Dig  deep  trenches  in  thy  beautyes  field 
Thy  youths  Proud  liuery  so  gazd  on  now 
Wil  be  A  totterd  weed  of  small  worth  held 
The  Canker  bloomes  haue  ful  as  deepe  a  dy 
As  ye  Perfumed  tincture  of  ye  roses. 

In  general  it  is  obvious  that  none  of  these  variant  MSS.  has  any  independent 
textual  value;  though  the  variants  in  the  first  quatrain,  similar  in  the  two 
versions  first  quoted,  have  been  thought  to  give  indications  of  a  different  early 
version  of  the  sonnet.  Mr.  Dobell  believed  (Ath.,  Aug.  2,  1913,  p.  112)  that 
this  MS.  version  is  that  of  "  Sh.'s  first  draft  of  the  sonnet." 


24  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [in 

.3 
Looke  in  thy  glasse  and  tell  the  face  thou  vewest, 
Now  is  the  time  that  face  should  forme  an  other, 
Whose  fresh  repaire  if  now  thou  not  renewest,     - 
Thou  doo'st  beguile  the  world,  vnblesse  some  mother. 
For  where  is  she  so  faire  whose  vn-eard  wombe  5 

Disdaines  the  tillage  of  thy  husbandry? 
Or  who  is  he  so  fond  will  be  the  tombe, 
Of  his  selfe  loue  to  stop  posterity? 

Thou  art  thy  mothers  glasse  and  she  in  thee  9 

Calls  backe  the  louely  Aprill  of  her  prime, 
So  thou  through  windowes  of  thine  age  shalt  see, 
Dispight  of  wrinkles  this  thy  goulden  time. 
But  if  thou  Hue  remembred  not  to  be, 
Die  single  and  thine  Image  dies  with  thee. 

3.  repaire]  repaine  1640. 

8.  selfe  loue]  Hyphened  by  L,  G2,  E,  etc.  • 

12.  goulden]  goulded  1640. 

13.  liue]  love  C;  list  But.        remembred]  remember  1640,  G,  S,  E. 

4.  unblesse.  Schmidt:  Neglect  to  make  happy. 

5.  un-eard.      M alone:  Unploughed. 

5-6.  Regis:  One  of  the  instances  where  Sh.,  without  knowing  it,  echoes  the 
old  poets.  Cf.  Sophocles,  Antigone,  569:  ["  There  are  other  fields  that  may  be 
ploughed."  Cf.  also  /Eschylus,  Septem,  754,  "Who  sowed  in  the  field  of  the 
womb,"  etc.;  and  Sophocles,  CEdipus  Tyrannus,  260,  121 1,  1257,  1485,  1497.] 

6.  Steevens:  Cf.  M.for  M.,  I,  iv,  43-44: 

Her  plenteous  womb 
Expresseth  his  full  tilth  and  husbandry. 

7.  fond.   Schmidt:  Foolish.   Delius:  Blindly  in  love  with  himself. 

7-8.  Maloxe:  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  I,  i,  225-26  [see  under  1,  12],  and  V.  &  A.,  757- 
60: 

What  is  thy  body  but  a  swallowing  grave, 
Seeming  to  bury  that  posterity 
Which  by  the  rights  of  time  thou  needs  must  have, 
If  thou  destroy  them  not  in  dark  obscurity? 

8.  selfe  love.  Tyler  :  Equivalent  apparently  to  self-satisfaction. 


iv]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  25 

9.  M alone:  Cf.  Lucrece,  1758-59: 

Poor  broken  glass,  I  often  did  behold 

In  thy  sweet  semblance  my  old  age  new  born. 

mothers.  Dowden:  Were  the  father  of  Sh.'s  friend  living,  it  would  have  been 
natural  to  mention  him;  13,  14  ("  you  had  a  father  ")  confirms  our  impression 
that  he  was  dead.  Beeching:  This  word  affords  us  no  ground  for  the  supposi- 
tion that  W.  H.'s  father  was  dead.  The  fact  may  simply  have  been  that  he 
resembled  his  mother.  Porter:  Surely  nothing  of  the  sort  either  here  or  in 
S.  13  should  bother  any  one's  head.  Here  the  mate  whom  the  friend  should 
take  influences  the  mother  imagery.  There  the  heirship  of  his  father's  house 
influences  the  father  imagery. 

9-10.  Tyler:  As  Professor  Minto  has  well  pointed  out,  [these  lines]  are 
entirely  suited  to  the  Countess  of  Pembroke.  Von  Mauntz:  Cf.  Sidney, 
Arcadia,  Bk.  3:  "  What  lesson  is  that  unto  you,  but  that  in  the  april  of  your 
age,  you  should  be  like  April?  "  [1590  ed.,  f.  280.J 

11.  Malone:  Cf.  L.C.,  13-14: 

Spite  of  heaven's  fell  rage 
Some  beauty  peep'd  through  lattice  of  sear'd  age. 

13.  Tyler:  If  your  intention  is  to  be  forgotten.  Beeching:  If  you  exist  only 
for  the  sake  of  being  forgotten. 

4 
Vnthrifty  louelinesse  why  dost  thou  spend, 
Vpon  thy  selfe  thy  beauties  legacy? 
Natures  bequest  giues  nothing  but  doth  lend, 
And  being  franck  she  lends  to  those  are  free: 
Then  beautious  nigard  why  doost  thou  abuse,  5 

The  bountious  largesse  giuen  thee  to  giue? 
Profitles  vserer  why  doost  thou  vse 
So  great  a  summe  of  summes  yet  can'st  not  Hue? 
For  hauing  traffike  with  thy  selfe  alone,  9 

Thou  of  thy  selfe  thy  sweet  selfe  dost  deceaue, 
Then  how  when  nature  calls  thee  to  be  gone, 
What  acceptable  Audit  can'st  thou  leaue? 

Thy  vnus'd  beauty  must  be  tomb'd  with  thee, 

Which  vsed  liues  th'executor  to  be. 
14.  th'executor]  thy  executor  C,  M,  A,  B,  But;  the  executor  Del,  Kly,  R2,  N. 


26         •      THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [iv 

[Isaac  calls  attention  to  resemblances  between  this  sonnet  and  passages  in 
Marlowe's  Hero  &  Leander  (234-36,  255-56,  317,  328): 

Treasure  is  abus'd 
When  misers  keep  it;  being  put  to  loan,. 
In  time  it  will  return  us  two  for  one  .  .  . 
One  is  no  number;  maids  are  nothing,  then, 
Without  the  sweet  society  of  men  .  .  . 
Abandon  fruitless,  cold  virginity  .  .  . 
Beauty  alone  is  lost,  too  warily  kept. 

He  concludes:]  That  Marlowe  is  here  copying  from  Sh.,  rather  than  the  reverse, 
may  be  inferred  from  the  circumstance  that  he  also  draws  upon  V.  &  A. 
(Jahrb.,  19:  250.) 

1-4.  Lee:  Cf.  Guarini,  Pastor  Fido  (I,  i);  .  .  .  Fanshawe  translates: 

Why  did  frank  Nature  upon  thee  bestow 
Blossoms  of  beauty  in  thy  prime,  so  sweet 
And  fair,  for  thee  to  trample  under  feet? 

3.  Dowden:  Cf.  M.for  M.,  I,  i,  37-41: 

Nature  never  lends 
The  smallest  scruple  of  her  excellence 
But,  like  a  thrifty  goddess,  she  determines 
Herself  the  glory  of  a  creditor, 
Both  thanks  and  use. 

Steevens:  Cf.  Milton,  Comus,  679-84: 

Why  should  you  be  so  cruel  to  yourself, 

And  to  those  dainty  limbs  which  Nature  lent 

For  gentle  usage  and  soft  delicacy? 

But  you  invert  the  covenants  of  her  trust, 

And  hafshly  deal,  like  an  ill  borrower, 

With  that  which  you  receiv'd  on  other  terms. 

Verity:  Cf.  Lucretius:  "  Vitaque  mancipio  nulli  datur." 

4.  franck.  Schmidt:  Liberal.  [Free,  as  often,  is  synonymous;  see  N.  E.  D. 
on  "  frank  and  free,"  etc.  —  Ed.]  those  are  free.  [For  the  omission  of  the 
relative,  see  Abbott,  Gr.,  §  244:]  In  many  cases  the  antecedent  immediately 
precedes  the  verb  to  which  the  relative  would  be  the  subject. 

5-6.  Sarrazin:  [Cf.  Daniel,  Delia,  S.  37:  "  Here,  see  the  gifts  that  God  and 
Nature  lent  thee."    (Sh.'s  Lehrjahre,  p.  172.)] 

7.  Profitles  userer.  Tyler:  To  beget  posterity  would  be  to  put  out  to 
interest  Nature's  gift  or  trust.  Using  this  for  himself  alone,  Mr.  W.  H.  is  a 
"  profitless  usurer."  [  Use  implies  an  allusion  to  the  meaning  "  put  to  usury  or 
interest."  —  Ed.] 


v]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  27 

8.  McClumpha:  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  II,  vi,  34:  "  I  cannot  sum  up  sum  of  half  my 
wealth."    (Jahrb.,  40:  197.) 

12.  acceptable.  [Not  used  elsewhere  by  Sh.,  but  there  are  familiar  analogies 
for  the  accent,  as  commendable  in  "  *T  is  sweet  and  commendable  in  your 
nature,  Hamlet."  —  Ed.] 

[On  the  style  of  this  sonnet,  as  marked  by  repetition  of  words,  see  Sarrazin 
in  Jahrb.,  32:  150-54.  He  instances  similar  examples  in  Sonnets  6,  8, 13,  16, 28, 
40,  43,  44,  128,  129,  136,  138,  142,  and  observes  that  the  manner  is  confined  to 
the  opening  "  procreation"  group  and  the  "  love  sonnets  ";  further,  that  it  is 
paralleled  especially  in   V.  &  A.,  Lucrece,  T.  G.   V.,  R.  &  J.,  and  R.  j.] 


5 
Those  howers  that  with  gentle  worke  did  frame, 
The  louely  gaze  where  euery  eye  doth  dwell 
Will  play  the  tirants  to  the  very  same, 
And  that  vnfaire  which  fairely  doth  excell : 
For  neuer  resting  time  leads  Summer  on,  5 

To  hidious  winter  and  confounds  him  there, 
Sap  checkt  with  frost  and  lustie  leau's  quite  gon. 
Beauty  ore-snow'd  and  barenes  euery  where, 
Then  were  not  summers  distillation  left  9 

A  liquid  prisoner  pent  in  walls  of  glasse, 
Beauties  effect  with  beauty  were  bereft, 
Nor  it  nor  noe  remembrance  what  it  was. 

But  flowers  distil'd  though  they  with  winter  meete, 
Leese  but  their  show,  their  substance  still  Hues  sweet. 

7.  Sap  checkt]  Hyphened  by  Stee  (Q  reprint).        leau's]  leaves  G,  etc. 

8.  barenes]  barenness  G1;  barrenness  G2,  S2,  E. 
14.  Leese]  Lose  G,  S,  E,  B. 

1.  howers.  Malone:  "  Hours  "  is  almost  always  used  by  Sh.  as  a  dissyllable. 

2.  gaze.  Schmidt:  Object  eagerly  looked  on.  [Cf.  Macb.,  V,  viii,  24:  M  The 
show  and  gaze  o'  the  time."] 

4.  unfaire.  Abbott:  It  may  be  said  that  any  noun  or  adjective  could  be  con- 
verted into  a  verb  by  the  Elizabethan  authors,  generally  in  an  active  signifi- 
cation. (§  290.)  Dowden:  Cf.  127,  6:  "  Fairing  the  foul."  [And  cf.  A.  &  C, 
II,  v,  64:  "  I  '11  unhair  thy  head."  —  Ed.] 

6.  confounds.  Schmidt:  Destroys. 


28  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [v 

7.  [The  first  of  a  number  of  beautiful  examples  in  the  Sonnets  of  what  may 
be  called  spondaic  lines;  note  the  special  effect  of  balanced  cadences  like  "  sap 
check'd  "and  "quite  gone,"  comparing  27, 12;  30,4fetc. —  Ed.]  gon.  Porter: 
The  poetic  effect  of  the  [period]  after  gone  is  lovely,  and  to  be  preferred.  [It  will 
be  understood,  without  full  reference  to  all  notes  of  this  character  in  the  First 
Folio  Edition,  that  Miss  Porter  is  able  to  find  a  subtle  beauty  in  most  of  the 
negligences  of  the  quarto  printer.  —  Ed.] 

8.  barenes  every  where.   Malone:  Cf.  97,  4. 

9-14.  Malone:  This  is  a  thought  with  which  Sh.  seems  to  have  been  much 
pleased.  We  find  it  again  in  S.  54,  and  in  M.  N.  D.,  I,  i,  76-78: 

But  earthlier  happy  is  the  rose  distill'd, 
Than  that  which  withering  on  the  virgin  thorn 
Grows,  lives,  and  dies  in  single  blessedness. 

Massey:  Cf.  Sidney,  Arcadia,  Bk.  iii:  "  Have  you  ever  seen  a  pure  rose-water 
kept  in  a  crystal  glass?  How  fine  it  looks!  how  sweet  it  smells  while  that  beauti- 
ful glass  imprisons  it!  Break  the  prison,  and  let  the  water  take  his  own  course, 
doth  it  not  embrace  dust,  and  lose  all  his  former  sweetness  and  fairness?  Truly 
so  are  we,  if  we  have  not  the  stay  rather  than  the  restraint  of  crystalline  mar- 
riage." [ed.  1590,  f.  262.]  Beeching:  The  expression  here  seems  certainly  to 
be  Sidney's,  though  the  argument  in  the  Arcadia  is  entirely  different.  Lee: 
The  identical  illustration  from  the  rose  figures  in  Erasmus's  colloquy,  "  Proci 
et  Puellae."  Walsh:  This  is  a  simile  frequently  used  by  Lilly:  "  Roses  that 
lose  their  colours,  keep  their  savours;  plucked  from  the  stalk,  are  put  to  the 
still."    (Sapho  &  Phao,  II,  i.) 

11.  Beauties  effect.  Rolfe:  The  perfume  which  perpetuates  the  memory  of 
the  beauty. 

14.  Leese.  [The  only  appearance  in  Sh.  of  this  familiar  variant  of  "lose." 
See  the  N.  E.  D.  for  the  numerous  earlier  variant  forms.  —  Ed.] 

[For  a  mystical  interpretation  of  the  image  of  distillation,  with  alleged 
parallels  in  writings  such  as  those  of  Philip  of  Mornay,  see  the  eccentric  article 
in  Blackwood,  137:  774,  especially  p.  781  f.] 


vi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE 


Then  let  not  winters  wragged  hand  deface, 

In  thee  thy  summer  ere  thou  be  distil'd: 

Make  sweet  some  viall ;  treasure  thou  some  place, 

With  beau  tits  treasure  ere  it  be  selfe  kil'd: 

That  vse  is  not  forbidden  vsery,  5 

Which  happies  those  that  pay  the  willing  lone; 

That 's  for  thy  selfe  to  breed  an  other  thee, 

Or  ten  times  happier  be  it  ten  for  one, 

Ten  times  thy  selfe  were  happier  then  thou  art,  9 

If  ten  of  thine  ten  times  refigur'd  thee, 

Then  what  could  death  doe  if  thou  should'st  depart, 

Leauing  thee  liuing  in  posterity? 

Be  not  selfe-wild  for  thou  art  much  too  faire, 

To  be  deaths  conquest  and  make  wormes  thine  heire. 

1.  wragged]  ragged  G,  etc.;  rugged  C. 

4.  beautits]  beauties  1640,  L,  G1;  beauty's  G2,  etc.  selfe  kil'd]  Hyphened 
by  G,  etc. 

13.  selfe-wild]  self-will'd  G,  etc.  (except  But);  self-kilVd  Del  conj.,  But. 

1.  wragged.  Schmidt:  Rough. 

5-6.  Massey:  Cf.  Sidney,  Arcadia:  "  This  [i.e.,  marriage  and  procreation] 
as  it  bindeth  the  receiver,  so  it  makes  happy  the  bestower.  This  doth  not 
impoverish,  but  enrich  the  giver."  [ed.  1590,  f.  261  b.]  (p.  72.)  Dowden: 
Cf.  V.  &  A.,  767-68: 

Foul-cank'ring  rust  the  hidden  treasure  frets, 
But  gold  that  's  put  to  use  more  gold  begets. 

And  M.V.,  I,  iii,  70-97  [Shylock's  remarks  on  usury]. 

5.  use.  M alone:  Usance.  Dowden:  Interest.   [Cf.  134,  10.  —  Ed.] 

6.  happies.   See  note  on  "  unfair,"  5,  4. 

8.  one.  [Percy  Simpson  instances  the  comma  here  as  an  example  of  its 
general  use,  in  Elizabethan  printing,  where  the  connection  of  thought  is  empha- 
sized by  parallel  clauses  or  echoed  words.  Cf.  S.  9,  4-5.  (Sh.  Punctuation, 
pp.  18-19.)] 

14.  McClumpha:  Cf.  R.  &  /.,  IV,  v,  38:  "  Death  is  my  son-in-law,  Death 
is  my  heir."    (Jahrb.,  40:  201.) 


30  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [vn 

7 

Loe  in  the  Orient  when  the  gracious  light, 
Lifts  vp  his  burning  head,  each  vnder  eye 
Doth  homage  to  his  new  appearing  sight, 
Seruing  with  lookes  his  sacred  maiesty, 
And  hauing  climb'd  the  steepe  vp  heauenly  hill,  5 

Resembling  strong  youth  in  his  middle  age, 
Yet  mortall  lookes  adore  his  beauty  still, 
Attending  on  his  goulden  pilgrimage: 
But  when  from  high-most  pich  with  wery  car,  9 

Like  feeble  age  he  reeleth  from  the  day, 
The  eyes  (fore  dutious)  now  conuerted  are 
From  his  low  tract  and  looke  an  other  way : 
So  thou,  thy  selfe  out-going  in  thy  noon: 
Vnlok'd  on  diest  vnlesse  thou  get  a  sonne. 

5.  steepe  vp]  Hyphened  by  G,  etc.  (except  But);  steep  up-heavenly  Nicholson 
conj.,  But. 

7.  beauty  still,]   beauty,  still  Nicholson  conj. 
9.  car]  care  1640,  G,  S,  E;  ear  L. 
10-12.  day  .  .  .  way]  way  .  .  .  day  Godwin  conj. 

11.  fore]  'fore  G2,  S2,  etc.  (except  Dy,  R)-,fore-dutious  S1. 

12.  tract]  track  G2,  S2. 

13.  thou,  thy  selfe]  thou  thyself,  Co2. 

Simpson:  [This  sonnet  is]  founded  on  the  converse  of  a  proverb.  ..."  Men 
use  to  worship  the  rising  sun."  On  the  other  hand,  says  Sh.,  men  turn  their 
backs  on  the  setting  sun,  and  the  only  way  to  retain  their  homage  is  to  receive 
it  in  the  person  of  a  son  and  successor,    (p.  48.) 

1-4.  Walsh:  Cf.  L.  L.  L.,  IV,  iii,  222-25: 

Like  a  rude  and  savage  man  of  Inde 
At  the  first  opening  of  the  gorgeous  east, 
Bows  not  his  vassal  head  and  strucken  blind 
Kisses  the  base  ground  with  obedient  breast. 

5.  steepe  up.  Beeching:  So  in  a  Shakespearean  sonnet  in  The  P.P.:  "  Her 
stand  she  takes  upon  a  steep-up  hill  "  [No.  ix;  1.  121].  "  Steep-down  "  occurs 
in  Oth.,  V,  ii,  280.  Porter:  [The  two  words  should  not  be  hyphenated.]  Both 


vn]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  31 

equally  qualify  hill.  .  .  .  The  reason  for  both  words  is  obvious  enough  when  it 
is  realized  that  earthly  hills  do  not  curve  up  as  the  concave  semi-arc  of  sky  does 
which  the  sun  is  here  imagined  as  climbing.  .  .  .  Sh.'s  adjectives  give  us  the 
image  of  the  steep  and  up-rounding  heavenly  hill,  as  expressed  by  one  who  held 
to  the  Ptolemaic  conception  of  the  celestial  spheres.  [This  explanation  of  the 
image  seems  to  me  to  be  sound;  not  so  the  inference  as  to  punctuation.  —  Ed.] 
5-6.  M alone:  Perhaps  our  author  had  the  sacred  writings  in  his  thoughts: 
"  In  them  hath  he  set  a  tabernacle  for  the  sun,  which  cometh  forth  as  a  bride- 
groom out  of  his  chamber,  and  rejoiceth  as  a  giant  to  run  his  course."  [Ps.  19: 

4-5.] 

7-8.  Malone:  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  I,  i,  125-26: 

Madam,  an  hour  before  the  worshipp'd  sun 
Peer'd  forth  the  golden  window  of  the  east. 

9.  high-most  pich.  Porter:  It  is  not  the  sunset  .  .  .  or  the  verging  towards 
the  horizon  .  .  .  that  is  here  imagined  as  inglorious,  but  this  slack  moment 
when,  at  noon,  out-going  from  the  zenith  of  attainment  and  the  day  by  him 
created,  he  reels  away.  wery.  Rolfe:  Cf.  R.j,V,  iii,  19:  "  The  weary  sun 
hath  made  a  golden  set." 

10.  Dowden:  Cf.  R.  &  /.,  II,  iii,  3: 

And  flecked  darkness  like  a  drunkard  reels 
From  forth  day's  path. 

11.  fore  dutious.  [Percy  Simpson:  For  the  brackets,  employed  with  ad- 
jectives or  adjective  phrases  following  a  noun,  cf.  30,  5  and  80,  5  and  7.  (Sh. 
Punctuation,  pp.  91-92.)] 

11-12.  Henry  Brown:  Cf.  T.  of  A.,  I,  ii,  150:  "Men  shut  their  doors 
against  a  setting  sun." 

13.  Beeching:  Outgoing  thyself-in-thy-noon,  passing  beyond  thy  meridian 
beauty.  Rolfe:  Not  referring  to  death  .  .  .  but  to  the  "  decline  of  life,"  as  we 
say.  [Percy  Simpson  notes  the  colon  at  the  end  of  this  line  under  its  regular 
use  for  marking  emphatic  pauses;  he  admits,  however,  that  here  "the  sense 
hardly  seems  to  justify  so  strong  a  pause  "!  (pp.  67-69.)] 

14.  get.  [Noting  the  regular  use  of  this  word  as  identical  with  "beget,"  the 
N.  E.  D.  is  in  doubt  whether  it  is  "  a  shortening  of  the  native  compound  verb 
or  an  assimilation  of  the  adopted  Scandinavian  simple  verb  to  the  form  of  the 
compound."] 


32  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [vm 

8 

Mvsick  to  heare,  why  hear'st  thou  musick  sadly, 

Sweets  with  sweets  warre  not,  ioy  delights  in  ioy: 

Why  lou'st  thou  that  which  thou  receaust  not  gladly, 

Or  else  receau'st  with  pleasure  thine  annoy? 

If  the  true  concord  of  well  tuned  sounds,  5 

By  vnions  married  do  offend  thine  eare, 

They  do  but  sweetly  chide  thee,  who  confounds 

In  singlenesse  the  parts  that  thou  should'st  beare: 

Marke  how  one  string  sweet  husband  to  an  other,  9 

Strikes  each  in  each  by  mutuall  ordering; 

Resembling  sier,  and  child,  and  happy  mother, 

Who  all  in  one,  one  pleasing  note  do  sing: 

Whose  speechlesse  song  being  many,  seeming  one, 
Sings  this  to  thee  thou  single  wilt  proue  none. 

1.  heare,]  ear,  M  conj.;  hear?   But.         sadly,]  sadly?   G,  etc. 

8.  beare]  share  Sta  conj. 

9.  string]  strain  Godwin  conj. 

14.  thou  .  .  .  none]  Quoted  by  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Del,  Hu1,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Kly, 
Wh2,  Cam,  Do,  R,  Ty,  Ox,  Wy,  But,  Her,  N,  Bull,  Wa;  italics  by  Co3,  Hu2,  Be. 

[With  the  general  conceit  of  this  sonnet  Isaac  compares  Marlowe's  Hero  & 
Leander,  229-30: 

Like  untun'd  golden  strings  all  women  are, 
Which  long  time  lie  untouch'd,  will  harshly  jar. 

(See  his  remark  on  S.  4.)]  Tyler:  Cf.  Daiphantus,  by  A.  Sc.  (1604): 

Music  is  only  sweet 
When  without  discord.  A  consort  makes  a  heaven. 
The  ear  is  ravished  when  true  voices  meet. 
Odds,  but  in  music,  never  makes  things  even, 
In  voices  difference  breeds  a  pleasant  ditty. 

The  writer  of  Daiphantus  may  have  seen  S.  8  in  MS.,  or  the  resemblance  may 
be  accidental. 

1.  Musick  to  heare.  Malone:  I  have  sometimes  thought  Sh.  might  have 
written,  "  Music  to  ear"  i.e.,  thou  whose  every  accent  is  music  to  the  ear.  Cf. 
C.  of  E.,  II,  ii,  116:  "  Never  words  were  music  to  thine  ear."   Dowden:  Cf. 


vm]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  33 

M.V.,  V,  i,  69:  "  I  am  never  merry  when  I  hear  sweet  music."  Tyler:  This 
may  possibly  mean  that  Mr.  W.  H.  had  no  liking  for  music.  .  .  .  But  is  it  not 
possible  that  the  "  music  heard  sadly  "  was  the  virginal  playing  of  Sh.'s  dark 
mistress  (128)?  The  sadness  may  thus  have  been  caused  by  the  impression 
which  her  fascinating  endowments  had  already  produced  on  Mr.  W.  H. 

7.  confounds.  Abbott:  The  relative  (perhaps  because  it  does  not  signify  by 
inflection  any  agreement  in  number  or  person  with  its  antecedent)  frequently 
takes  a  singular  verb,  though  the  antecedent  be  plural,  and  the  verb  is  often 
in  the  third  person,  though  the  antecedent  be  in  the  second  or  first.  .  .  .  [The 
present  example]  may  also  be  explained  by  the  northern  inflection  of  5  for  st 
[see  on  19,  5].    (§  247.)   [For  the  meaning,  see  5,  6.] 

9.  string.  Godwin  [reads  "  strain  "  because]  the  music  is  supposed  to  be 
vocal,    (p.  84.) 

9-12.  Simpson:  Founded  on  an  acoustic  phenomenon.  ...  If  two  strings 
sound  any  two  notes  of  the  perfect  triad  in  complete  accord,  the  third  note  will 
be  spontaneously  produced  in  the  air  by  a  complementary  vibration,  (p.  49.) 
[In  this  explanation  Simpson  had  been  anticipated  by  Knight,  in  the  Pictorial 
Sh.  —  Ed.]  Massey:  Cf.  Sidney,  Arcadia:  "Can  one  string  make  as  good 
music  as  a  consort?  "  [1590  ed.,  f.  262  b.]    (p.  72.) 

14.  Dowden:  Perhaps  an  allusion  to  the  proverbial  expression  that  one  is  no 
number.  Cf.  136,  8.  Tyler:  Thou  canst  give  forth  no  harmony,  and  must 
eventually  cease  altogether. 

In  a  MS.  miscellany  in  the  British  Museum  (Add.  MSS.  15226),  made  up  of 
various  17th  century  pieces,  and  probably  dating  (according  to  Dr.  C.  W. 
Wallace)  from  the  period  of  the  Commonwealth,  occurs  the  following  version 
of  this  sonnet: 

In  laudem  Musice  et  opprobrium 
Contemptorij  eiusdem. 

1. 

Musicke  to  heare  why  hearest  thou  musicke  sadly 
Sweets  wth  sweetes  warre  not,  Joy  delights  in  Joy 
Why  louest  yu  that  wch  thou  receauest  not  gladly 
or  els  receauest  wth  pleasure  thine  annoy 


Jf  the  true  Concord  of  well  timed  Sounds 

By  Vnions  maried  doe  offend  thy  eare 

They  doe  but  sweetlie  chide  thee,  whoe  confounds 

Jn  singlenes  a  parte,  wch  thou  shouldst  beare 

3- 
Marke  howe  one  stringe,  sweet  husband  to  another 
Strikes  each  on  each,  by  mutuall  orderinge 


34  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [ix 

Resemblinge  Childe,  &  Syer,  and  happy  Mother 

wch  all  in  one  this  single  note  dothe  singe 

whose  speechles  songe  beeinge  many  seeming  one 
Sings  this  to  thee,  Thou  single,  shalt  pue  none 

W:  Shakspeare. 


9 

Is  it  for  feare  to  wet  a  widdowes  eye, 

That  thou  consum'st  thy  selfe  in  single  life? 

Ah ;  if  thou  issulesse  shalt  hap  to  die, 

The  world  will  waile  thee  like  a  makelesse  wife, 

The  world  wilbe  thy  widdow  and  still  weepe,  5 

That  thou  no  forme  of  thee  hast  left  behind, 

When  euery  priuat  widdow  well  may  keepe, 

By  childrens  eyes,  her  husbands  shape  in  minde: 

Looke  what  an  vnthrift  in  the  world  doth  spend  9 

Shifts  but  his  place,  for  still  the  world  inioyes  it 

But  beauties  waste  hath  in  the  world  an  end, 

And  kept  vnvsde  the  vser  so  destroyes  it: 

No  loue  toward  others  in  that  bosome  sits 

That  on  himself e  such  murdrous  shame  commits. 

1.  Is  it]  It  is  1640. 

3.  shalt]  shall  Wa.         to]  do  E. 

5.  The  .  .  .  widdow]  Quoted  by  E. 

12.  vser]  us'rer  S,  E. 

13.  toward]  towards  G,  S,  E. 

14.  murdrous]  murtherous  Wh,  R. 

3.  Ah.  [Percy  Simpson  notes  that  the  semi-colon  is  often  used  with  excla- 
mations and  addresses.   (Sh.  Punctuation,  pp.  60-62.)] 

4.  makelesse.  Schmidt:  Makeless,  widowed. 

8.  eyes.   See  Tyler's  note  on  1,  5. 

9.  unthrift.  Schmidt:  Prodigal.  Cf.  13,  13. 

10.  his.  On  the  neuter  possessive,  see  Abbott,  §  228,  and  Franz,  §  189. 
12.  McClumpha:  Cf.  R.  &  /.,  Ill,  iii,  123-24: 

Which,  like  a  usurer,  abound'st  in  all, 

And  usest  none  in  that  true  use  indeed.     (Jahrb.,  40:  198.) 

14.  murdrous  shame.  Schmidt:  [An  example  of  the  inversion  or  confusion 
of  adjective  and  noun:]  =  shameful  murder.   (2:  1417.) 


x]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  35 

[From  the  accepted  view  that  this  sonnet  refers  to  the  possibility  of  the 
friend's  making  his  wife  a  widow  through  his  death,  Isaac  dissents:]  Of  all 
grounds  which  could  be  urged  against  marriage,  this,  put  into  the  mouth  of  a 
youth,  is  the  most  original.  It  seems  to  me  more  natural  that  widow  refers  to 
the  mother  of  the  friend,  and  that  the  passage  is  to  be  understood  thus:  Dost 
thou  fear  to  sadden  thy  mother,  of  whose  widowhood  thou  art  the  consolation 
and  from  whom  marriage  would  separate  thee?  [This  is  applied  to  the  mother  of 
Essex,  between  the  death  of  Leicester  her  second  husband,  Sept.,  1588,  and  her 
marriage  to  Blount,  July,  1589.]    (Jahrb.,  19:  245.) 


IO 

For  shame  deny  that  thou  bear'st  loue  to  any 
Who  for  thy  selfe  art  so  vnprouident 
Graunt  if  thou  wilt,  thou  art  belou'd  of  many, 
But  that  thou  none  lou'st  is  most  euident: 
For  thou  art  so  possest  with  murdrous  hate,  5 

That  gainst  thy  selfe  thou  stickst  not  to  conspire, 
Seeking  that  beautious  roofe  to  ruinate 
Which  to  repaire  should  be  thy  chiefe  desire: 
O  change  thy  thought,  that  I  may  change  my  minde,       9 
Shall  hate  be  fairer  log'd  then  gentle  loue? 
Be  as  thy  presence  is  gracious  and  kind, 
Or  to  thy  selfe  at  least  kind  harted  proue, 
Make  thee  an  other  selfe  for  loue  of  me, 
That  beauty  still  may  Hue  in  thine  or  thee. 

1.  shame]  shame  IS,  E,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Wh,  Hal, 
Cam,  Do,  R,  Ty,  Ox,  Her,  N;  shame,  Sta. 
5.  murdrous]  murtherous  Wh,  R. 

1.  For  shame.  Wyndham:  For  shame's  sake.  [The  punctuation  "  shame!  "] 
destroys  the  rhythm.  [The  textual  notes  will  show  that,  since  Wyndham  re- 
stored the  quarto  reading  here,  a  number  of  editors  have  followed  him.  It  is 
probable  that  they  have  done  so  on  the  ground  that  the  line  makes  sense  with- 
out the  point  of  exclamation,  rather  than  on  the  rhythmical  ground  mentioned 
by  Wyndham;  the  latter  argument  is  of  a  perilous  sort,  and  can  usually  be  made 
to  work  both  ways.  —  Ed.] 

7.  Steevens:  Cf.  C.  of  E.,  Ill,  ii,  4:  "  Shall  love,  in  building,  grow  so  ruin- 
ate? "  (Folio  reading),  and  T.  G.  V.,  V,  iv,  7-1 1: 


36  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [x 

O  thou  that  dost  inhabit  in  my  breast, 
Leave  not  the  mansion  so  long  tenantless, 
Lest,  growing  ruinous,  the  building  fall 
And  leave  no  memory  of  what  it  was! 
Repair  me  with  thy  presence,  Silvia! 

Massey:  Cf.  Sidney,  Arcadia: 

O  Histor,  seek  within  thyself  to  flourish; 

Thy  house  by  thee  must  live,  or  else  be  gone.    (pp.  73-74.) 

Dowden:  Seeking  to  bring  ruin  to  that  house  (i.e.,  family),  which  it  ought  to 
be  your  chief  care  to  repair.  These  lines  confirm  the  conjecture  that  the  father 
of  Sh.'s  friend  was  dead.  Tyler:  Beauteous  roof  [is]  to  be  understood  generally 
of  the  bodily  house.  Butler:  Not  his  friend's  family,  nor  yet  his  family  man- 
sion; .  .  .  the  flesh  and  blood  roof  of  that  particular  tenement  within  which  his 
friend's  mind  was  housed.  [Cf.  13,  9-14.]  (p.  53.)  Beeching:  Dowden  and 
Herford  explain  "  house,  i.e.,  family."  But  this  is  impossible.  Sh.  regards  the 
perpetuation  of  his  friend's  beauty  in  an  heir  as  a  preserving  of  it  from  decay. 
The  "  beauteous  roof  "...  is  the  person  of  his  friend. 

12.  kind.  Porter:  The  adjective  applies  in  a  special  sense,  kind  being  sug- 
gestive of  "  kin  "  and  "  child." 

14.  Tyler:  Cf.   V.  &  A.,  173-74: 

And  so,  in  spite  of  death,  thou  dost  survive, 
In  that  thy  likeness  still  is  left  alive. 


xi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  37 

11 

As  fast  as  thou  shalt  wane  so  fast  thou  grow'st, 
In  one  of  thine,  from  that  which  thou  departest, 
And  that  fresh  bloud  which  yongly  thou  bestow'st, 
Thou  maist  call  thine,  when  thou  from  youth  conuertest, 
Herein  Hues  wisdome,  beauty,  and  increase,  5 

Without  this  follie,  age,  and  could  decay, 
If  all  were  minded  so,  the  times  should  cease, 
And  threescoore  yeare  would  make  the  world  away 
Let  those  whom  nature  hath  not  made  for  store,  9 

Harsh,  featurelesse,  and  rude,  barrenly  perrish, 
Looke  whom  she  best  indow'd,  she  gaue  the  more; 
Which  bountious  guift  thou  shouldst  in  bounty  cherrish, 
She  caru'd  thee  for  her  seale,  and  ment  therby, 
Thou  shouldst  print  more,  not  let  that  coppy  die. 

6.  this]  this,  G2,  etc.  (except  Kt). 

8.  yeare]  years  G,  S,  E,  C,  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Hu1,  Kly,  Ty,  But. 
11.  Looke]   Thou  Sharp  conj.        the]  thee  S1,  C,  M,  A,  B,  Del,  Co2,  Sta, 
Hu2,  But,  Be,  Wa. 

14.  not]  nor  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Hu1,  Sta,  Kly,  Ty,  Ox. 

1-2.  Tyler:  In  his  child  [he  grows]  towards,  or  in,  that  youthful  beauty 
which  he  is  leaving  behind.  Wyndham:  I  retain  the  comma  after  grow'st,  as  in 
Q,  and  remove  the  comma  after  thine,  to  make  clearer  the  only  meaning  which 
I  can  extract:  So  fast  thou  grow'st,  in  one  of  thy  children  deriving  from  that 
(the  period  of  youth)  which  thou  departest  (lea vest  behind).  Rolfe:  If  you 
have  children,  as  fast  as  you  grow  old  you  renew  in  your  offspring  the  youth 
you  have  lost;  thus,  as  it  were,  growing  afresh  from  that  (youth)  which  thou 
departest  from.  The  omission  of  a  preposition  is  common  in  a  relative  clause  if 
it  occurs  in  the  antecedent  clause.  Possibly  departest  may  be  transitive. 
Dowden:  Departest  —  lea  vest.  [So  Schmidt.]  Beeching:  Separatest  off.  .  .  . 
"  That  which  thou  departest,"  a  slip  of  thee. 

3.  yongly.  Wyndham:  In  youth. 

4.  convertest.  [For  the  intransitive  use,  cf.  Macb.,  IV,  iii,  229:  "  Let  grief 
convert  to  anger."   For  the  rhyme  cf.  art:  convert  in  S.  14.  —  Ed.] 

7.  the  times.  Dowden:  The  generations  of  men. 
7-8.  Von  Mauntz:  Cf.  Ovid,  Amores,  II,  xiv,  9-10: 

Si  mos  antiquis  placuisset  matribus  idem, 
Gens  hominum  vitio  deperitura  fuit. 


38  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xn 

9.  store.  Schmidt:  Increase  of  men,  fertility.  Herford:  For  store  =  to 
breed  from.   "  Store  "  is  properly  breeding-stock.   [Cf.  14,  12.  —  Ed.] 

11.  the  more.  M alone:  [The  Q  reading  is  evidently  a  misprint.]  Nature, 
however  liberal  she  may  have  been  to  others,  has  been  still  more  bountiful  to 
you.  [The  tendency  of  recent  editors,  however,  as  the  textual  notes  indicate, 
has  been  to  retain  the  Q  reading.  —  Ed.]  Dowden:  To  whom  she  gave  much 
she  gave  more.  Rolfe:  Cf.  Matt.^iy.  12:  "  Whosoever  hath,  to  him  shall  be 
given,  and  he  shall  have  more  abundantly."  [But  this  is  much  easier  to  under- 
stand than  the  statement  that  more  is  given  to  one  who  already  has  most. 
Hence,  no  doubt,  the  suggestion  that  follows.  —  Ed.]  Tyler:  "  The  more  "  = 
the  more  important  or  greater  gift,  the  function  of  reproducing  their  kind. 
[Cf.  "  more  "  in  23,  12  and  40,  4.] 

13-14.  Malone:  Cf.  T.N.,  I,  v,  259-61: 

Lady,  you  are  the  cruell'st  she  alive, 

If  you  will  lead  these  graces  to  the  grave 

And  leave  the  world  no  copy. 

Henry  Brown  :  Cf .  Massinger,  The  Fatal  Dowry  ; 

Die,  and  rob 
The  world  of  nature's  copy,  that  she  works 
Forms  by.  (p.  167.) 

12 

When  I  doe  count  the  clock  that  tels  the  time, 

And  see  the  braue  day  sunck  in  hidious  night, 

When  I  behold  the  violet  past  prime, 

And  sable  curls  or  siluer'd  ore  with  white: 

When  lofty  trees  I  see  barren  of  leaues,  5 

Which  erst  from  heat  did  canopie  the  herd 

And  Sommers  greene  all  girded  vp  in  sheaues 

Borne  on  the  beare  with  white  and  bristly  beard : 

Then  of  thy  beauty  do  I  question  make  9 

That  thou  among  the  wastes  of  time  must  goe, 

Since  sweets  and  beauties  do  them-selues  forsake, 

And  die  as  fast  as  they  see  others  grow, 

And  nothing  gainst  Times  sieth  can  make  defence 

Saue  breed  to  braue  him,  when  he  takes  thee  hence. 

4.  And]  In  C.  or]  are  G2,  S,  E;  all  M,  etc.  o'er  silvered  with  anon,  conj.; 
o'er  silver'd  all  with  Nicholson  conj. 


xn]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  39 

Dowden:  This  sonnet  seems  to  be  a  gathering  into  one  of  5,  6,  7. 

3.  Dowden:  Cf.  Hand.,  I,  iii,  7:  "  A  violet  in  the  youth  of  primy  nature." 

4.  Steevens:  Cf.  HamL,  I,  ii,  242:  "  A  sable  silver'd." 
7-8.  *Capell:  Cf.  M.  N.  D.,  II,  i,  94-95: 

The  green  corn 
Hath  rotted  ere  his  youth  attain'd  a  beard. 

Tyler:  The  pessimistic  tendency  which  emerges  in  the  expression  ["  hideous 
night  "]  becomes  still  more  apparent  when  harvest-home  is  transmuted  into  a 
funeral,  and  the  waggon  laden  with  ripened  corn  becomes  a  bier  bearing  the 
aged  dead.  / 

9.  question.  Schmidt:  Discussion, consideration.  Tyler:  "Question  make" 
=  feel  a  doubt  whether  it  will  not  be,  etc. 

10.  wastes  of  time.  [Editions  differ  here,  as  elsewhere,  in  the  matter  of 
treating  "  time  "  as  a  personification  and  capitalizing  it.  To  do  so  in  this  in- 
stance would  seem  to  be  supported  not  only  by  line  13,  but  by  R.  2,  V,  v,  49: 
"  I  wasted  time,  and  now  doth  Time  waste  me."  —  Ed.] 

14.  M alone:  Except  children,  whose  youth  may  set  the  scythe  of  Time  at 
defiance.  Godwin:  The  word  "  breed  "...  is  not  used  in  the  usual  sense  of 
the  engendered,  but  in  a  more  derivative  sense,  inasmuch  as  the  instances 
adduced  are  taken  from  the  vegetal  world,  where  it  has  the  significance  given 
it  when  we  say  that  "  use  breeds  habit,"  that  "  money  breeds  interest,"  that 
"  public  means  do  public  manners  breed."  (p.  74.)  [This  is  a  part  of  Godwin's 
esoteric  interpretation  of  the  sonnets,  which  in  general  I  do  not  attempt  to 
represent  in  these  notes.  —  Ed.]  him.  Percy  Simpson:  [The  comma  after  this 
word  is  a  beautiful  and  suggestive  instance  of  its  use  for  a  metrical  pause:]  the 
alliteration  of  "  breed  "  and  "  brave  "  carries  on  the  line  to  the  pause  where  the 
voice  seems  to  falter  at  the  thought  of  the  final  parting.  The  passage  is  ruined 
by  the  modern  punctuation,  "  Save  breed,  to  brave  him  when  he  takes  thee 
hence."    (Sh.  Punctuation,  p.  24.) 


40  THE  SONNETS   OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xra 

13 

O  that  you  were  your  selfe,  but  loue  you  are 

No  longer  yours,  then  you  your  selfe  here  Hue, 

Against  this  cumming  end  you  should  prepare, 

And  your  sweet  semblance  to  some  other  giue. 

So  should  that  beauty  which  you  hold  in  lease 

Find  no  determination,  then  you  were 

You  selfe  again  after  your  selfes  decease, 

When  your  sweet  issue  your  sweet  forme  should  beare. 

Who  lets  so  faire  a  house  fall  to  decay,  9 

Which  husbandry  in  honour  might  vphold, 

Against  the  stormy  gusts  of  winters  day 

And  barren  rage  of  deaths  eternall  cold? 

O  none  but  vnthrifts,  deare  my  loue  you  know, 

You  had  a  Father,  let  your  Son  say  so. 

7.  You]    Your  1640,  G,  etc. 
13.  deare]  dare  1640. 

Dowden:  Note  "you  "  and  "your  "  instead  of  "  thee,"  "  thine,"  and  the 
address  "  my  love  "  for  the  first  time.  [The  different  uses  of  these  pronouns 
were  first  discussed,  for  the  Sonnets,  .by  Goedeke,  Deutsche  Rundschau,  1877; 
later  by  Dowden,  in  his  edition;  and  have  been  made  the  starting-point  of 
various  interesting  discussions,  none  of  which  can  be  said  to  have  reached  any 
result.  Dowden's  own  summary  of  the  facts  is  as  follows:  "  Sometimes  the 
choice  seems  to  be  determined  by  considerations  of  euphony,  sometimes  of 
rhyme;  sometimes  intimate  affection  seems  to  indicate  the  use  of  you,  and  re- 
spectful homage  that  of  thou;  but  this  is  by  no  means  invariable.  ...  In  the 
sonnets  to  a  mistress,  thou  is  invariably  employed."  (Intro.,  p.  25.)  This  last 
statement  covers  only,  in  Dowden's  view,  the  sonnets  127  and  following.  The 
thou-thy  sonnets  are  1-4,  6-12,  14,  18, 20,  22,  26-32,  34-51,  60-62,  69-70,  73-74, 
77-79,  82,  87-93,  95-97,  99.  107-10,  122,  125-26,  128,  131-36,  139-43.  147- 
52.  The  you-your  sonnets  are  13,  15-17.  52~55»  57"59.  7i~72,  75"76,  80-81 , 
83-86,  98,  102-104,  Io6»  1 1 1-15, 1 17-18,  120.  S.  24  contains  both  forms.  —  Ed.] 

1.  Dowden:  Yourself  seems  to  mean  "  your  own."  Tyler:  Cf.  "another 
self,"  10,  13;  "  next  self,"  133,  6.  [Tyler  also,  and  rightly,  calls  attention  to 
the  necessity  of  printing  "  your  self  "  as  two  words.  —  Ed.]  Verity:  Would 
that  you  were  absolute,  independent  of  time,  free  from  the  conditions  that 


xm]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  41 

fetter  men.  Godwin:  [Verity's  note  expresses]  just  the  reverse  of  what  the 
poet  wishes,  i.e.,  that  his  friend  should  know  his  dependence  upon  his  condi- 
tions. .  .  .  [The  meaning  is:]  Oh,  that  you  were  master  of  yourself  and  knew 
that  you  are  your  own  only  so  long  as  this  present  life  continues,    (p.  81.) 

3-4.  M alone:  Cf.   V.  6*  A.,  171-74  [see  under  S.  1]. 

5-6.  M alone:  Cf.  Daniel,  Delia: 

In  beauty's  lease  expir'd  appears 
The  date  of  age,  the  calends  of  our  death. 

.  .  .  Determination  in  legal  language  means"  end."  Hazlitt:  "  Find  no  deter- 
mination "  =  become  a  fee-simple.  Lord  Campbell:  The  word  is  always  used 
by  lawyers  instead  of  end.      (Sh.'s  Legal  Acquirements,  p.  101.) 

8.  Massey:  Cf.  Sidney,  Arcadia:  "O  the  comfort  of  comforts,  to  see  your 
children  grow  up,  in  whom  you  are,  as  it  were,  eternised!  If  you  could  conceive 
what  a  heart-tickling  joy  it  is  to  see  your  own  little  ones  .  .  .  like  little  models 
of  yourself  still  carry  you  about  them,  you  would  think  unkindness  in  your  own 
thoughts,  that  ever  they  did  rebel  against  the  mean  unto  it."  [1590  ed.,  ff.  261- 
62.]    (p.  72.) 

9.  house.  Tyler:  Must  be  referred  to  Mr.  W.  H.'s  ancestry,  not  to  the 
bodily  house.  [With  this  Rolfe  agrees,  distinguishing  the  passage  from  10,  7. 
But  Beeching  is,  I  think,  undoubtedly  right,  in  identifying  the  "house"  with 
the  "beauteous  roof"  of  S.  10;  and  lines  11-12  make  it  even  clearer  than  in  the 
earlier  sonnet  that  the  passage  has  figurative  reference  to  the  individual  life. 
—  Ed.]  Massey:  Southampton  being  an  only  son  left  fatherless,  he  was  the 
sole  prop  and  stay  of  the  ancestral  roof.   (p.  55.) 

10.  husbandry.  M alone:  Economical  prudence.   Cf.  H.  5,  IV,  i,  7: 

For  our  bad  neighbour  makes  us  early  stirrers, 
Which  is  both  healthful  and  good  husbandry. 

12.  barren.  Abbott:  Adjectives  signifying  effect  were  often  used  to  signify 
the  cause.   (§  4.) 

14.  had  a  Father.  Massey:  Cf.  Sidney,  Arcadia :  "  Nature  ...  as  she  made 
you  child  of  a  mother,  so  to  do  your  best  to  be  mother  of  a  child."  [1590  ed., 
f.26ib.]  (p.  72.)  [And]  cf.  A.W.,  1, 1,10-20:"  This  young  gentlewoman  [Massey 
misreads  "  gentleman  "J  had  a  father,  —  O,  that  ' had ' !  how  sad  a  passage  'tis! " 
(p.  55.)  Dowden:  The  father  of  Sh.'s  friend  was  probably  dead.  Tyler:  Not 
that  Mr.  W.  H.'s  father  was  dead,  but  that  he  should  do  as  his  father  did.  .  .  . 
Cf.  M.  W.  W.t  III,  iv,  36,  where  Shallow,  urging  Slender  to  woo  Anne  Page  in 
manly  fashion,  .  .  .  says,  "  She's  coming,  to  her,  coz.  O  boy,  thou  hadst  a 
father."  .  .  .  Also  M.V.,  II,  ii,  17-19,  where  Launcelot  says,  "My  father  did 
something  smack."  ...  To  these  passages  my  attention  was  directed  by  the 
Rev.  W.  A.  Harrison.  Sarrazin:  [The  passage  indicates  beyond  question  that 
the  youth's  father  was  dead.]  (Jahrb.,  31:  218.)  Wyndham:  Simply  another 
poetical  turn  for  the  advice,  "  beget  a  son."  It  does  not  mean  that  the  friend's 
father  was  dead.  Porter:  The  past  tense  should  not  be  taken  literally,  but  as 


42  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xiv 

the  naturally  resulting  contrast  between  the  son's  birth  in  the  past  and  the 
grandson's  in  the  future.  Beeching:  Languet  writing  to  Philip  Sidney  in 
praise  of  marriage  tells  the  story  from  Herodotus  (iii,  34)  of  Croesus  deciding 
that  Cambyses'  father  Cyrus  was  the  better  of  the  two  because  he  was  the 
father  of  an  admirable  prince,  whereas  Cambyses  had  himself  no  son.  {Corre- 
spondence of  Sidney  &  Languet,  trans.  Pears,  p.  148.) 


14 

Not  from  the  stars  do  I  my  iudgement  plucke, 
And  yet  me  thinkes  I  haue  Astronomy, 
But  not  to  tell  of  good,  or  euil  lucke, 
Of  plagues,  of  dearths,  or  seasons  quallity, 
Nor  can  I  fortune  to  breefe  mynuits  tell;  5 

Pointing  to  each  his  thunder,  raine  and  winde, 
Or  say  with  Princes  if  it  shal  go  wel 
By  oft  predict  that  I  in  heauen  finde. 
But  from  thine  eies  my  knowledge  I  deriue,  9 

And  constant  stars  in  them  I  read  such  art 
As  truth  and  beautie  shal  together  thriue 
If  from  thy  selfe,  to  store  thou  wouldst  conuert: 
Or  else  of  thee  this  I  prognosticate, 
Thy  end  is  Truthes  and  Beauties  doome  and  date. 

-  4.  seasons]  seasons'  C,  M,  Co,  B,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  Gl,  Wh,  Hal,  Del3,  Cam, 
Do,  R,  Ox,  Wy,  But,  Her,  Be,  N,  Bull,  Wa;  season's  A,  Kt,  Del1,2,  CI,  Kly, 
Ty. 

6.  Pointing]  'Pointing  Walker  conj.,  Sta,  Hu2,  N. 
8.  oft  predict]  ought  predict  G2,  S2,  E;  hyphened  by  Kly. 
11-12.  truth  .  .  .  conuert]   Quoted  by  Do,  Ox. 
14.  Thy  .  . .  date]  Quoted  by  Do,  Ox. 

Massey:  [With  this  sonnet  the  borrowings  from  Sidney's  Astrophel  &  Stella, 
as  distinguished  from  the  Arcadia,  begin.  Cf.  the  passage  on  astrology  here 
with  Sidney's  S.  26,  etc.  This  suggests  that  Sonnets  1-13,]  at  least,  were 
written  immediately  after  Sh.  had  read  the  Arcadia  in  1590,  and  before  he  had 
seen  the  A.  &  S.  in  1591.    (p.  74.) 

2.  Astronomy.  Schmidt:  Astrology.  [The  only  use  of  the  word  in  Sh.] 
Dowden:  So  Sidney,  Arcadia,  Bk.  iii,  "O  sweet  Philoclea,  .  .  .  thy  heavenly 
face  is  my  astronomy,"  and  A.  &  S.,  S.  26: 


xiv]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  43 

Though  dusty  wits  dare  scorn  astrology  .  .  . 
[I]  oft  forejudge  my  after-following  race 
By  only  those  two  stars  in  Stella's  face. 

So  Daniel,  Delia,  S.  30  (on  Delia's  eyes) : 

Stars  are  they  sure,  whose  motions  rule  desires; 
And  calm  and  tempest  follow  their  aspects. 

3.  good.  [The  comma  here  exemplifies  a  rule  formulated  by  Percy  Simpson, 
with  reference  to  the  use  of  the  comma  before  "or"  and  "nor"  (also  before 
"not"),  with  no  comma  after.  Cf.  Oih.,  I,  ii,  4:  "Nine,  or  ten  times."  (Sh. 
Punctuation,  p.  48.)] 

4.  Fleay:  The  conjunction  of  [the  terms  "plagues,"  "dearths,"  etc.]  seems  to 
point  to  the  plagues  of  1592  and  1593,  succeeded  by  the  dearths  of  1594,  1595, 
1596,  and  the  irregularity  of  the  seasons  in  1595, 1596.  [Hence  1595-96  is  a  prob- 
able date  for  the  sonnet.]    (Biog.  Chronicle,  2:  211.) 

6.  Pointing.  N.  E.  D.\  [The  word  is  an]  aphetic  form  of  "  appoint."  Rolfe: 
Cf.  Bacon,  Essay  45  (ed.  1625):  "  But  this  to  be,  if  you  do  not  point  any  of  the 
lower  rooms  for  a  dining  place  of  servants." 

8.  oft  predict.  Steevens:  May  mean,  "what  is  most  frequently  prognosti- 
cated." Malone  [in  support  of  the  text  cites  "the  oft  report"  from  The 
Birth  of  Merlin,  1662].  Dowden:  Frequent  prognostication.  Butler:  [For 
"predict,"  cf.  "affect"  for  "affection"  in  L.  L.  L.,  I,  i,  152.]  Beeching: 
"Prediction"  is  used  for  "omen"  in  J.C.,  II,  ii,  28:  "  These  predictions  are  to 
the  world  in  general  as  to  Caesar."  t 

9.  Steevens:  Cf.  L.  L.  L.,  IV,  iii,  350:  "  From  women's  eyes  this  doctrine 
I  derive." 

10.  constant  stars.  [For  the  punctuation,  see  Percy  Simpson's  statement  that 
the  omission  of  commas  is  regular  with  appositional  phrases.  {Sh.  Punctuation, 
p.  23.)]  art.  Schmidt:  Learning.  [Cf .  66, 9,  and  contrast  various  other  passages, 
as  68,  14,  where  the  word  is  used  with  a  suggestion  of  evil.  —  Ed.] 

12.  Malone:  If  thou  wouldst  change  thy  single  state,  and  beget  a  numer- 
ous progeny,  store.  See  11,  9.  convert.  Dowden:  Rhyming  with  "art";  so 
in  Daniel,  Delia,  S.  11,  "convert"  rhymes  with  "  heart."  [Cf.  11,4.  —  Ed.] 


44  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xv 

15 

When  I  consider  euery  thing  that  growes 
Holds  in  perfection  but  a  little  moment. 
That  this  huge  stage  presenteth  nought  but  showes 
Whereon  the  Stars  in  secret  influence  comment. 
When  I  perceiue  that  men  as  plants  increase,  5 

Cheared  and  checkt  euen  by  the  selfe-same  skie: 
Vaunt  in  their  youthfull  sap,  at  height  decrease, 
And  were  their  braue  state  out  of  memory. 
Then  the  conceit  of  this  inconstant  stay,  9 

Sets  you  most  rich  in  youth  before  my  sight, 
Where  wastfull  time  debate th  with  decay 
To  change  your  day  of  youth  to  sullied  night, 
And  all  in  war  with  Time  for  loue  of  you 
As  he  takes  from  you,  I  ingraft  you  new. 

3.  stage]  state  M,  A,  B. 
6.  euen]  ev'n  G2,  S2,  E. 
8.  were]  wear  G,  etc. 
14.  you  new]  anew  Sharp  conj. 

Porter:  Cf.  Spenser,  Amoretti,  S.  24: 

When  I  behold  that  beauty's  wonderment, 

And  rare  perfection  of  each  goodly  part, 

Of  nature's  skill  the  only  complement, 

I  honour  and  admire  the  Maker's  art. 

But  when  I  feel  the  bitter,  baleful  smart 

Which  her  fair  eyes  unwares  do  work  in  me,  [etc.] 

3.  Tyler:  Cf.  A.  Y.  L.t  II,  vii,  139:  "All  the  world  's  a  stage,"  etc.;  M.V., 
I,  i,  77:  "I  hold  the  world  but, as  ...  a  stage  where  every  man  must  play  a 
part";  Temp.,  IV,  i,  153:  "  The  great  globe  itself,  yea,  all  which  it  inherit,  shall 
dissolve,"  etc.  [Malone's  change  of  "stage"  to  "  state,"  without  comment,  is 
unwarranted,  and  unlike  him.  —  Ed.] 

4.  Delius:  The  influence  of  the  stars  furnishes  the  only  explanation  of  the 
play  on  the  stage  of  the  world.  Tyler:  As  the  annotation  of  a  commentator 
runs  parallel  with  the  text,  so  the  influence  of  the  stars  corresponds  with  the 
course  of  things  in  the  world.  Beeching:  The  stars  are  represented  as  specta- 
tors at  the  play,  "  cheering  and  checking."  Influence  was  an  astrological  term; 


xv]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  45 

cf.  Lear,  I,  ii,  136:  "  Drunkards,  liars,  and  adulterers  by  an  enforc'd  obedience 
of  planetary  influence."  N.  E.  D.  (s.  v.  "influence") :  The  supposed  flowing  or 
streaming  from  the  stars  or  heavens  of  an  etherial  fluid  acting  upon  the  char- 
acter and  destiny  of  men,  and  affecting  sublunary  things  generally.  [The  diffi- 
culty with  the  passage,  which  has  rather  oddly  escaped  careful  discussion,  is 
that  the  notions  "influence"  and  "comment"  seem  to  be  opposed,  —  the  one 
suggesting  the  traditional  active  energy  of  the  stars,  the  other  the  attitude  of 
mere  spectators.  It  is  possible  that  we  are  to  understand  "influence"  in  a 
less  active  sense,  and  to  think  of  the  emanations  of  the  planets,  for  the  time 
being,  as  having  only  the  nature  of  comment;  but  I  think  it  more  probable  from 
the  context,  which  emphasizes  the  destructive  character  of  the  various  forces 
acting  against  all  earthly  growth,  that  the  line  means  something  like  this: 
"  which  the  stars  view  with  disfavor  and  against  which  they  secretly  begin 
adverse  action."  The  "  comment,"  in  other  words,  may  be  viewed  as  not  that 
of  a  mere  spectator,  but  of  an  author  or  manager  who  has  power  to  change  what 
he  disapproves.  The  N.  E.  D.  notes  that  the  word  often  implies  unfavorable 
judgment.  —  Ed.] 

6.  checkt.  Schmidt:  Repressed. 

7.  Vaunt.  Schmidt:  Exult.  Tyler:  Mount  proudly  upward.  Cf.  T.  &  C, 
Prol.,  27,  "  Our  play  leaps  o'er  the  vaunt  and  firstlings  of  those  broils,"  where 
vaunt  must  mean  the  beginning  and  early  course. 

9.  conceit.  Schmidt:  Idea,  image  in  the  mind.  stay.  [Lee :  The  word  is  from 
Golding's  Ovid,  where  it  is  frequently  used  in  connection  with  the  theory  of  Na- 
ture's unending  rotation.  Thus,  "  The  elements  never  stand  at  stay,"  etc. 
(Qu.  Rev.,  210:  474.)] 

11.  debateth.  Malone:  Cf.  A.W.,  I,  ii,  75:  "Nature  and  sickness  debate 
it  at  their  leisure."  Beeching:  Time  and  Decay  are  allies  in  this  "debate"  or 
strife. 

12.  Steevens:  Cf.  R.  3,  IV,  iv,  16:  "  Hath  dimm'd  your  infant  morn  to  aged 
night." 

13.  [This  line  might  be  said  to  state  the  theme  of  a  large  part  of  the  sonnet 
collection.  —  Ed.] 

14.  Walsh:  The  idea  of  one  thing  growing  as  another  wanes  (and  so  replac- 
ing and  preserving  it)  frequently  recurs  in  the  Sonnets  (12,  12  ;  11,  1-2;  100, 
13).  I  ingraft.   Beeching:  The  first  reference  to  the  poet's  verse. 

Price:  [In  this  sonnet  Sh.]  arranges  1 12  words  in  one  single  sentence,  (p.  369.) 


46  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xvi 

16 

Bvt  wherefore  do  not  you  a  mightier  waie 
Make  warre  vppon  this  bloudie  tirant  time? 
And  fortifie  your  selfe  in  your  decay 
With  meanes  more  blessed  then  my  barren  rime? 
Now  stand  you  on  the  top  of  happie  houres,  5 

And  many  maiden  gardens  yet  vnset, 
With  vertuous  wish  would  beare  your  liuing  flowers, 
Much  liker  then  your  painted  counterfeit: 
So  should  the  lines  of  life  that  life  repaire  9 

Which  this  (Times  pensel  or  my  pupill  pen) 
Neither  in  inward  worth  nor  outward  faire 
Can  make  you  Hue  your  selfe  in  eies  of  men, 
To  giue  away  your  selfe,  keeps  your  selfe  still, 
And  you  must  Hue  drawne  by  your  owne  sweet  skill, 

6.  maiden  gardens]  Hyphened  by  Kly. 

7.  your]  you  L,  G,  S,  E,  M,  A,  B,  Hu2,  Ty,  Ox,  But,  Be,  Wa. 

9.  lines]  lives  M  conj.;  line  Hu2. 

10.  Which]  With  Stengel  conj.  this  (Times  .  .  .  pen)]  this  time's  pencil,  or  my 
pupil  pen,  G2,  Massey  conj.,  Hu2,  Be,  Wa;  this,  Time's  pencil,  or  my  pupil  pen, 
M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del,  Hu1,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Wh,  Hal,  Cam,  Do,  Ox,  Her,  N, 
Bull;  this  {time's  pencil),  or  my  pupil  pen,  E;  this,  Time's  pencil  or  my  pupil- 
pen,  Kly;  this  time's  pencil  or  my  pupil  pen,  R.;  this  time's  pencil,  nor  my  pupil 
pen,  But.        or]  for  Stengel  conj. 

2.  tirant.  Tyler:  Cf.  5,  3. 

6.  Malone:  Cf.  L.C.,  171:  "  His  plants  in  others'  orchards  grew." 

7.  Dowden:  [In  defense  of  the  text,  it  may  be  said  that]  ".your  living 
flowers"  stands  over  against  "your  painted  counterfeit."  [So  Rolfe;  but 
Beeching  feels  that]  to  repeat  "your"  forces  the  antithesis  too  much. 

8.  counterfeit.  [Illustrating  the  regular  use  of  this  word  for  "  portrait," 
Malone  cites  M.V.,  III,  ii,  116:  "What  find  I  here?  Fair  Portia's  counter- 
feit?"] Lee:  The  many  references  [of  this  character;  cf.  S.  24,  27,  67]  suggest 
that  [Sh.'s]  hero  often  sat  for  his  portrait.  Southampton's  countenance  sur- 
vives in  probably  more  canvases  than  that  of  any  of  his  contemporaries.  At 
least  14  extant  portraits  have  been  identified.  .  .  .  Most  of  these,  it  is  true, 
portray  their  subject  in  middle  age.  (Life,  p.  144.)  Porter:  Any  portrayal  of 
life  by  art,  whether  literary  or  pictorial.  .  .  .  The  poem  or  "barren  rime"  of 


xvi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  47 

the  poet  is  here  called  with  belittlement  a  mere  "painted  counterfeit"  in  com- 
parison with  "  living  flowers." 

9.  lines  of  life.  M alone:  This  appears  to  me  obscure.  Perhaps  the  poet 
wrote,  "  the  lives  of  life,"  i.e.  children.  [Later  Malone  approved  as  very  plaus- 
ible an  anonymous  suggestion  that  the  phrase  is  equivalent  to  "  living  pictures," 
viz.,  children.]  Dowden:  Children.  The  unusual  expression  is  selected  because 
it  suits  the  imagery  of  the  sonnet,  lines  applying  to  (1)  lineage,  (2)  delineation 
with  a  pencil,  a  portrait,  (3)  lines  of  verse  as  in  18,  12.  Tyler:  I  was  inclined 
to  take  these  words  as  referring  to  the  wrinkles  on  the  brow  of  advancing  life 
(cf.  19,  10)  .  .  .  But,  having  regard  to  the  general  drift  of  the  sonnet,  ...  I  now 
assent  to  the  interpretation  of  the  "lines  of  life"  as  children  in  whom  Mr. 
W.  H.  is  supposed  to  have  himself  portrayed  his  mental  and  bodily  excellences. 
[Cf.  line  14.]  Wyndham:  I  believe  that  the  conceit,  while  including  [the  mean- 
ings noted  by  Dowden  and  others,]  starts  from  a  fourth  drawn  from  palmistry, 
and  that  this  determined  its  unusual  cast, — lines  of  life.  .  .  .  Cf.  M.V.,  II, 
ii,  169:  "  Here  's  a  simple  line  of  life:  here 's  a  small  trifle  of  wives,"  etc.  Thus 
the  sense  is:  Many  a  maid,  if  you  should  marry, would  bear  you  "living  flowers" 
=  children,  much  liker  than  any  portrait  of  yourself;  so  should  the  lines  of 
life  =  marriage  and  procreation,  with  a  play  on  the  meaning  delineation,  repair 
that  life  of  yours,  which  this  =  my  record,  with  a  play  on  the  meaning  lines  of 
verse  —  and  then  in  parentheses  ("Times  pensel"  =  history,  record  at  large, 
"or  my  pupill  pen"  =  my  humbler  art);  "neither  in  inward  worth  nor  outward 
fair"  =  beauty,  can  (do,  for  it  cannot)  make  you  live  your  self  (i.e.  very  self) 
in  eyes  of  men.  [After  several  attempts  to  mitigate  the  difficulties  in  punctua- 
tion and  phrasing  which  make  this  explanation  at  least  as  puzzling  as  the 
original,  I  have  determined  to  let  the  reader  learn  from  it  what  he  can.  —  Ed.] 
.  .  .  The  play  on  the  double  sense  line  =  delineation,  and  line  =  a  verse  is  de- 
veloped in  17,  1-2;  [cf.  63,  13;  86,  13;  17,  13-14;  18,  12.  And  cf.  W.T.,  I,  ii, 
153:  "Looking  on  the  lines  of  my  boy's  face,"  etc.]  Kinnear:  So  should  the 
lines  of  life  (your  decay)  that  life  (living  children)  repair,  which  this  (this  life, 
which,  i.e.,  children's  life  which),  nor  Time's  pencil,  etc.  (p.  497.)  Porter:  In 
this  way  should  the  "  lines  of  life,"  i.e.,  the  lines  of  propagation,  impregnation 
and  conception,  "repaire  that  life"  —  the  actual  life  of  the  beloved;  which  life 
this  counterfeit  life  ("Times  pensel"  etc.)  can  neither  in  its  inward  worth  nor 
outward  fairness  cause  you  to  embody  and  enact.  Henry  Brown:  Cf.  Hugh 
Holland,  on  Sh.: 

For  though  his  line  of  life  went  soon  about, 

The  life  yet  of  his  lines  shall  never  out.  (p.  167.) 

10.  Massey:  What  Sh.  says  is,  that  the  best  painter,  the  master  pencil  of  the 
time,  or  his  own  pen  of  a  learner,  will  alike  fail  to  draw  the  Earl's  lines  of  life 
as  he  himself  can  do  it,  by  his  "  own  sweet  skill."  This  pencil  of  the  time  may 
have  been  Mirevelt's;  he  painted  [Southampton's]  portrait  in  early  manhood, 
(p.  83.)  Dowden:  Are  we  to  understand  the  line  as  meaning  "Which  this  pen- 
cil of  Time  or  this  my  pupil  pen";  and  is  Time  here  conceived  as  a  limner  who 


48  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xvi 

has  painted  the  youth  so  fair,  but  whose  work  cannot  last  for  future  genera- 
tions? In  19  "devouring  Time"  is  transformed  into  a  scribe;  may  not  "tyrant 
Time"  be  transformed  here  into  a  painter?  ...  Is  the  "painted  counterfeit" 
of  line  8  Sh.'s  portrayal  in  his  verse?  Cf.  53,  5.  Tyler:  Dr.  Furnivall  has  sug- 
gested that  this  expression  is  used  generally  of  such  written  records  of  the  time 
as  may  refer  to  Mr.  W.  H.  This  view  seems  to  me  correct;  and  it  is  well  worthy 
of  note  that  in  the  Quarto  .  .  .  the  words  "Time's  pencil  or  my  pupil  pen"  are 
bracketed  together.  The  record  of  "Time's  pencil"  would  thus  be  of  a  similar 
kind  to  that  made  by  the  poet's  "  pupil  pen."  A  reason  may  also  thus  be  as- 
signed for  the  use  of  the  word  "  pupil,"  as  implying  that  the  record  in  these 
sonnets  was  subordinate  to  the  general  record  or  chronicle  of  the  period. 
"This"  .  .  .  may  be  taken  as  meaning  "any  written  record  of  this  kind." 
Herford:  The  semblance  of  the  man  at  any  moment  is  conceived  as  his  por- 
trait, drawn  by  Time.  But  Time  continually  alters,  and  finally  spoils,  his  work; 
hence  "Time's  pencil"  is  no  remedy  against  decay.  Beeching:  [The  rhythm 
which  results  from  a  mark  of  punctuation  after  "this"  is  incredible.]  "Neither 
portraiture  (this  time's  pencil,  cf .  line  8)  nor  description  (my  pupil  pen,  cf .  line  4) 
can  represent  you  as  you  are,  either  in  character  or  beauty."  [For  the  rhythmi- 
cal argument,  cf.  Wyndham's  note  on  10,  1.  Are  we  to  understand  that  these 
writers  view  with  suspicion  a  considerable  metrical  pause  after  the  second 
syllable?  If  so,  what  of  22,  10;  25,  3;  37,  3;  44,  9;  61,  9;  83,  3;  87,  1;  99,  2; 
116,  5;  148,  1?  —  Ed.]  Steevens:  [The  words  "pupil  pen"]  may  be  considered 
as  a  slight  proof  that  the  poems  before  us  were  our  author's  earliest  composi- 
tions. [Butler  (p.  90)  approves  this  suggestion.]  Archer:  One  of  the  expres- 
sions of  exaggerated  humility  with  which  the  Sonnets  abound.  {Fort.  Rev.,  62: 
.821.)  Walsh:  Not  necessarily  inexperienced,  but  obedient  to  nature's  instruc- 
tions, copyist  of  reality  (opposed  to  the  "antique"  or  original  and  master-pen 
of  nature).  Porter:  Sh.  speaks  modestly  of  his  "pupil  pen"  in  comparison 
with  "Time's  pencil." 

11.  Mct^LUMPHA:  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  I,  iii,  90:  "For  fair  without  the  fair  within 
to  hide."  (Jahrb.,  40:  193.)  [For  "fair"  as  a  substantive,  cf.  18,  7,  10;  83,  2. 
—  Ed.] 

13.  M alone:  To  produce  likenesses  of  yourself .  .  .  will  be  the  means  of 
preserving  your  memory. 

14.  Massey:  Cf.  Sidney,  Arcadia :  "  With  his  sweet  skill  my  skilless  youth  he 
drew."    (p.  74.) 


xvn]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  49 

17 

Who  will  beleeue  my  verse  in  time  to  come 

If  it  were  fild  with  your  most  high  deserts? 

Though  yet  heauen  knowes  it  is  but  as  a  tombe 

Which  hides  your  life,  and  shewes  not  halfe  your  parts: 

If  I  could  write  the  beauty  of  your  eyes,  5 

And  in  fresh  numbers  number  all  your  graces, 

The  age  to  come  would  say  this  Poet  lies, 

Such  heauenly  touches  nere  toucht  earthly  faces. 

So  should  my  papers  (yellowed  with  their  age)  9 

Be  scorn'd,  like  old  men  of  lesse  truth  then  tongue, 

And  your  true  rights  be  termd  a  Poets  rage, 

And  stretched  miter  of  an  Antique  song. 

But  were  some  childe  of  yours  aliue  that  time, 
You  should  Hue  twise  in  it,  and  in  my  rime. 

7-8.  this  .  .  .  faces]  Quoted  by  Co1-2,  Del,  Hu1,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Wh,  etc.; 
italics  by  Co3,  Hu2. 

12.  miter]  metre  G,  etc.        Antique]  antick  G,  S,  E. 

14.  twise  in  it]  twice;  in  it  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Gl,  Wh2,  Wy,  But;  trance;  —  in  it  Sta, 
Kly;  twice,  in  it  Cam,  Do,  Her,  Be,  N,  Bull,  Wa;  twice,  —  in  it  C,  Hu,  Dy,  CI, 
Del3,  R,  Ty,  Ox;  twice  —  in  it  Co,  Del1-2,  Wh1,  Hal. 

5-8.     Fleay:  Cf.  Drayton,  Idea,  S.  17: 

Stay,  speedy  Time!  behold,  before  thou  pass 

From  age  to  age,  what  thou  hast  sought  to  see!  .  .  . 

Pass  on!  and  to  posterity  tell  this! 

Yet  see  thou  tell  but  truly  what  hath  been! 

Say  to  our  nephews  that  thou  once  hast  seen 

In  perfect  human  shape  all  heavenly  bliss! 

And  bid  them  mourn,  nay  more,  despair  with  thee, 

(That  she  is  gone)  her  like  again  to  see! 

(Biog.  Chron.,  2:  228.) 

6.  fresh.  Beeching:  "Lively  and  beautiful"  to  match  the  friend's  "  graces." 
See  Sonnets  1,9;  104,  8;  107,  10. 

11.  rage.  Schmidt:  Madness;  applied,  in  contempt,  to  poetical  inspiration. 

12.  Dowden:  Keats  prefixed  this  line  as  motto  to  his  Endymion.  "Stretched 
metre"  means  overstrained  poetry,    stretched  miter.    Schmidt:  Affected,  ex- 


50  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xvm 

aggerated  verse.  Porter:  Forced  metre,  .  .  .  characteristic  of  ballads  and  old- 
time  verse.  .  .  .  This  expression  is  commonly  explained  to  mean  "inflated"  or 
"overstrained"  poetry.  It  is  rather  a  poetic  figure  of  speech  for  that,  but 
especially  suggesting  that  in  the  future  indulgence  will  be  shown  it  as  some- 
thing archaic  in  verse.  [Cf.  iH.  4,  III,  i,  130:  "One  of  these  same  metre 
ballad-mongers."  —  Ed.] 


18 

Shall  I  compare  thee  to  a  Summers  day? 
Thou  art  more  louely  and  more  temperate: 
Rough  windes  do  shake  the  darling  buds  of  Maie, 
And  Sommers  lease  hath  all  too  short  a  date: 
Sometime  too  hot  the  eye  of  heauen  shines,  5 

And  often  is  his  gold  complexion  dimm'd, 
And  euery  faire  from  faire  some-time  declines, 
By  chance,  or  natures  changing  course  vntrim'd : 
But  thy  eternall  Sommer  shall  not  fade,  9 

Nor  loose  possession  of  that  faire  thou  ow'st, 
Nor  shall  death  brag  thou  wandr'st  in  his  shade, 
When  in  eternall  lines  to  time  thou  grow'st, 
So  long  as  men  can  breath  or  eyes  can  see, 
So  long  Hues  this,  and  this  giues  life  to  thee, 

3.  Maie]  Male  L. 
10.  loose]  C,  M,  etc.  (except  Wy). 

This  sonnet  was  omitted  from  the  Poems  of  1640  and  the  later  editions  based 
on  that  volume. 
3.  M alone:  Cf.  Cymb.,  I,  iii,  36-37: 

Like  the  tyrannous  breathing  of  the  north 
Shakes  all  our  buds  from  growing  ; 

and  T.  of  S.,  V,  ii,  140:  "  As  whirlwinds  shake  fair  buds."  Dowden:  We  must 
remember  that  May  in  Sh.'s  time  [was  a  summer  month,  running]  on  to  within 
a  few  days  of  our  mid  June. 

7.  [On  faire,  see  note  on  16,  II.  There  is  room  for  doubt  whether  the  first  of 
the  two  "fairs"  is  the  abstract  noun,  or  =  "fair  one"  (cf.  21,  4).  —  Ed.] 

8.  untrim'd.  Schmidt:  Stripped  of  ornamental  dress.  Porter:  As  a  ship's 
sails  untrimmed  to  the  course  as  the  winds  compel  her  to  be.  [Schmidt's  ex- 
planation is  undoubtedly  right.  —  Ed.] 


xix]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  51 

10.  ow'st.  For  the  meaning  "  own,"  cf.  70,  14. 

12.  Dowden:  This  anticipation  of  immortality  for  their  verse  was  a  common- 
place with  the  sonnet- writers  of  the  time  of  Elizabeth.  See  Spenser,  Amoretti, 
S.  27,  69,  75;  Drayton,  Idea,  S.  6,  44;  Daniel,  Delia,  S.  39.  [On  this  subject  see 
especially  the  notes  on  S.  55.  —  Ed.] 

Lee:  There  is  almost  a  contradiction  in  terms  between  the  poet's  handling  of 
[the  appeal  to  marry  in  order  that  the  friend's  beauty  may  survive  in  children, 
S.  1— 17,]  and  his  emphatic  boast  in  .  .  .  18-19  tnat  ms  verse  alone  is  fully  equal 
to  the  task  of  immortalizing  his  friend's  youth  and  accomplishments.  (Life, 
p.  98.)  [There  is  indeed  good  ground  for  questioning  whether  these  two  sonnets 
should  be  included,  as  frequently,  in  the  same  group  with  the  preceding,  and 
whether  they  can  be  thought  of  as  written  at  the  same  time,  even  if  admittedly 
to  the  same  person.  —  Ed.] 

This  sonnet  was  translated  into  Latin  by  E.  D.  Stone,  N.  &  Q.,  June  10, 
1876. 

19 
Devouring  time  blunt  thou  the  Lyons  pawes, 
And  make  the  earth  deuoure  her  owne  sweet  brood, 
Plucke  the  keene  teeth  from  the  fierce  Tygers  yawes, 
And  burne  the  long  liu'd  Phsenix  in  her  blood, 
Make  glad  and  sorry  seasons  as  thou  fleet'st,  5 

And  do  what  ere  thou  wilt  swift-footed  time 
To  the  wide  world  and  all  her  fading  sweets: 
But  I  forbid  thee  one  most  hainous  crime, 
O  carue  not  with  thy  howers  my  loues  faire  brow,  9 

Nor  draw  noe  lines  there  with  thine  antique  pen, 
Him  in  thy  course  vntainted  doe  allow, 
For  beauties  patterne  to  succeding  men. 

Yet  doe  thy  worst  ould  Time  dispight  thy  wrong, 
My  loue  shall  in  my  verse  euer  Hue  young. 

1.  Deuouring]  Destroying  Walker  conj. 

3.. yawes]  jaws  C,  M,  etc. 

5.  fleet'st]  fleets  A,  Kt,  Co,  Del,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Wh,  Hal,  Do,  Hu2, 
R,  Ox,  Her,  Be,  N,  Bull. 
11.  thy]  the  Hu2. 
14.  euer  liue]  live  ever  Nicholson  conj. 

This  sonnet  was  also  omitted  from  the  1640  volume. 


52  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xix 

1  i.  Devouring  time.  Verity:  So  Spenser,  S.  58:  "Devouring  time  and 
changeful  chance."  A  reminiscence  of  Ovid's  edax  vetustas?  Walsh:  Cf.  "  The 
prey  of  Time,  which  all  things  doth  devour,"  Spenser's  translation  of  Bellay's 
"The  Ruins  of  Rome,"  3,  8  (1591);  and  "  Devouring  Death,"  Spenser's  own 
"  The  Ruins  of  Time,"  52  (1591).  The  original  is  Ovid's  Tempus  edax,  Ex 
Ponto,  IV,  x,  7,  and  Met.,  xv,  234.    Lee:  [Cf.  Golding's  Ovid: 

Thou  Time,  the  eater  up  of  things,  and  age  of  spiteful  teen, 

Destroy  all  things! 

{Qu.  Rev.,  210:  472.)] 

[Cf.  Daniel's  Delia,  S.  50:  "  Time's  consuming  rage."  —  Ed.] 

4.  in  her  blood.  Steevens:  May  signify  "burnt  alive."  [Cf.  Cor.,  IV,  vi,  85: 
"  Your  temples  burned  in  their  cement,"  which  may  mean  "  burned  while 
standing."]  [So  Delius:  Having  still  living  blood.]  Rolfe:  For  allusions  to 
the  phoenix  in  Sh.,  cf.  Temp.,  Ill,  hi,  23;  A.  Y.  L.,  IV,  iii,  17;  H.  8,  V,  v,  41; 
T.  of  A.,  II,  i,  32;  etc.   See  also  The  Phcenix  and  the  Turtle. 

5.  fleet'st.  [For  the  usual  change  to  fleets,  see  Abbott:]  In  verbs  ending 
with  -t,  -test  final  in  the  second  person  singular  often  becomes  -ts  for  euphony. 
(Cf.  "  thou  torments,"  R.  2,  IV,  i,  270;  "revisits,  "Rami.,  I,  iv,  53;  etc.).  .  .  This 
termination  in  -s  contains  perhaps  a  trace  of  the  influence  of  the  northern  in- 
flection in  -s  for  the  second  person  singular.  (§  340.)  [See  Franz  on  the  same 
subject,  §  1.] 

6.  For  the  punctuation,  see  P.  Simpson's  note  on  1,  12. 

10.  antique.  Rolfe:  Accented  on  the  first  syllable,  as  regularly  in  Sh. 
Tyler:  So  called,  apparently,  as  marking  age  on  the  countenance. 

14.  Beeching:  The  cadence  of  this  line  seems  to  mark  the  conclusion  of  the 
first  section  [of  the  Sonnets]. 

[The  curious  reader  may  find  in  Blackwood's  Mag.,  169:  674,  some  remarks 
by  Creighton  to  the  effect  that  the  first  quatrain  of  this  sonnet  involves  a 
description  of  the  Pembroke  arms,  with  the  trifling  changes  of  panther  to  tiger 
and  of  wyvern  to  phcenix.] 


xx]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  53 

20 

A  Womans  face  with  natures  owne  hand  painted, 

Haste  thou  the  Master  Mistris  of  my  passion, 

A  womans  gentle  hart  but  not  acquainted 

With  shifting  change  as  is  false  womens  fashion, 

An  eye  more  bright  then  theirs,  lesse  false  in  rowling:     5 

Gilding  the  obiect  where- vpon  it  gazeth, 

A  man  in  hew  all  Hews  in  his  controwling, 

Which  steales  mens  eyes  and  womens  soules  amaseth. 

And  for  a  woman  wert  thou  first  created,  9 

Till  nature  as  she  wrought  thee  fell  a  dotinge, 

And  by  addition  me  of  thee  defeated, 

By  adding  one  thing  to  my  purpose  nothing. 

But  since  she  prickt  thee  out  for  womens  pleasure, 
Mine  be  thy  loue  and  thy  loues  vse  their  treasure. 

2.  Haste]  Hast  1640,  G,  etc.  • 

3.  Master  Mistris]  Master,  Mistress  G,  S,  E;  hyphened  by  C,  M,  etc.  (except 
Wy,  N). 

'7.  man  in]  maiden  Be  conj.    Hews]  Hue  S2,  E;  'hues'  Gl,  Cam,  Wh2,  Her. 
9.  wert]  went  1640. 

[With  the  theme  of  this  sonnet  Massey  compares  Chapman: 
A  youth  so  sweet  of  face 
That  many  thought  him  of  the  female  race; 

and  Marlowe,  H.  &  L., 

Some  swore  he  was  a  maid  in  men's  attire, 

For  in  his  looks  were  all  that  men  desire.  (p.  39.) 

Von  Mauntz  compares  Ovid,  Metam.,  8,  322-23: 

Facies,  quam  dicere  vere 
Virgineam  in  puero,  puerilem  in  virgine  posses.] 

1.  Master  Mistris.  Schmidt:  A  male  mistress,  one  loved  like  a  woman. 
Malone:  Does  not  perhaps  mean  "man-mistress,"  but  sovereign  mistress. 
I  Modern  usage  is  undoubtedly  right  in  hyphenating  the  words,  and  they  should 
be  understood  as  coordinate;  the  notion  is  either  "both  master  and  mistress" 
or  "whether  master  or  mistress  I  can  hardly  say." — Ed.]  passion.  Schmidt: 
Amorous  desire.  Massey:  [Synonymous  with  "poem."  Cf.  Watson's  Passion- 


54  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xx 

ate  Century,  1582,  whose  100  sonnets  are  called  "passions"  throughout;  and 
M.  N.  D.,  where  the  ditties  of  Pyramus  and  Thisbe  are  so  called.]  Thus  the 
"passion"  of  Sh.  is  not  an  affair  of  the  heart,  .  .  .  [but]  the  theme  on  which  he 
writes;  ...  so  the  effeminacy  of  the  woman-like  love  in  wooing  a  male  friend 
vanishes  from  the  sonnets,  (pp.  39-40.)  Dowden  [notes  the  same  interpreta- 
tion of  passion  as  having  been  suggested  to  him  by  H.  C.  Hart.] 
5.  false  in  rowling.   Dowden:  Cf.  Spenser,  F.  Q.,  Bk.  3,  c.  i,  s.  41: 

Her  wanton  eyes  (ill  signes  of  womanhed) 
Did  roll  too  lightly. 

Tyler:  Cf.  139,  6;  140,  14. 

7.  man  in  hew.  Schmidt  [gives  only  "colour"  for  the  meaning  of  "hue." 
The  N.  E.  D.  notes  "  form,  shape,  appearance,"  as  the  first  (though  obsolete) 
meaning  (cf.  Gothic  kiwi  =  form,  appearance).]  Dowden:  The  word  was  used 
by  Elizabethan  writers  not  only  in  the  sense  of  "  complexion,"  but  also  in  that 
of  "  shape,  form."  In  F.  Q.,  Bk.  5,  c.  ix,  ss.  17-18,  Talus  tries  to  seize  Malengin, 
who  transforms  himself  into  a  fox,  a  bush,  a  bird,  a  stone,  and  then  a  hedgehog: 

Then  gan  it  run  away  incontinent 
Being  returned  to  his  former  hew. 

The  meaning  .  .  .  then  may  be  "  A  man  in  form  and  appearance,  having  the 
mastery  over  all  forms  in  that  of  his,"  etc.  With  the  phrase  "controlling  hues  " 
cf.  S.  106,  8.  Beeching:  In  all  other  places  where  Sh.  uses  the  word  it  means 
"appearance,"  "complexion"  (cf.  Per.,  IV,  i,  41,  "that  excellent  complexion 
which  did  steal  the  eyes  of  old  and  young").  A  beautiful  complexion  might  be 
said  to  "control"  others  by  making  the  colour  come  and  go,  but  one  shape 
could  have  no  influence  on  another.  The  words  "man  in"  almost  certainly  are 
a  corruption  of  some  epithet,  because  a  manly  hue  would  neither  steal  men's 
eyes  nor  surprise  women's  souls;  and  the  whole  point  of  the  sonnet  is  that  the 
friend's  beauty  is  feminine.  In  the  previous  two  lines  his  "eye"  has  been  com- 
pared with  a  woman's,  and  we  should  expect  a  similar  comparison  as  to  his 
"hue"  to  preserve  the  balance  of  the  double  comparison  in  the  first  quatrain. 
I  propose,  therefore,  to  read  "a  maiden  hue."  My  friend  Mr.  J.  W.  Mackail 
prefers  "a  native  hue"  (Haml.,111,  i,  84)  as  being  nearer  to  the  ductus  literarum 
of  "a  man  in  hue."  That  would  depend  on  the  handwriting;  id  in  an  Eliza- 
bethan hand  looks  very  like  n  with  a  final  flourish,  and  for  the  mistake  of  in 
for  en,  cf.  "bitter"  for  "  better"  in  91,  9.  Further,  "native"  repeats  the  point 
already  made  in  1.  1,  while  "maiden"  would  prepare  the  way  for  1.  9.  ft  must 
record  my  conviction  that  this  is  one  of  the  most  plausible  emendations  which 
have  been  proposed  in  connection  with  the  text  of  the  Sonnets.  —  Ed.] 

Hews.  Boswell:  Mr.  Tyrwhitt  has  pointed  out  to  me  a  line  .  .  .  which 
inclines  me  to  think  that  the  initials  W.  H.  in  the  Dedication  stand  for 
W.  Hughes.  [This  line  quoted.]  The  name  Hughes  was  formerly  written 
Hews.  When  it  is  considered  that  one  of  these  Sonnets  is  formed  entirely  on  a 
play  on  our  author's  Christian  name,  this  conjecture  will  not  appear  improbable. 


xx]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  55 

{Prelim.  Remarks,  ed.  1 821,  p.  217.)  Browne  [discusses  the  Hughes  conjecture 
in  Ath.,  Aug.  30,  1873,  mentioning  two  Elizabethan  musicians  named  Hewes.] 
Furnivall  [(N.  &-().,  5th  s.,  5:  443)  gives  a  list  of  contemporaries  with  Sh. 
named  Hughes.]  Massey:  It  is  "Ewes"  that  was  aimed  at  by  the  double  en- 
tendre, which  leads  us  beyond  the  mere  name  to  a  person  of  importance;  for 
"Ewe"  was  a  title  of  Essex.  The  Earldom  was  that  of  "  Essex  and  Ewe."  "  A 
man  in  hue,  all  Ewes  in  his  controlling"  was  as  far  as  Sh.  could  go  in  telling  his 
friend  that  his  comeliness  and  favour  were  far  superior  to  those  of  the  favourite, 
and  that  these  gave  him  the  upper  hand.  (p.  54.)  Tyler:  The  notion  that 
Hews  was  intended  to  indicate  a  certain  Mr.  William  Hughes  .  .  .  scarcely 
needs  to  be  refuted.  Wyndham  :  I  retain  the  Q  type  and  spelling,  being  per- 
suaded that  the  word  was  so  printed  intentionally.  .  .  .  The  line  means  "A  man 
in  shape  all  shapes  in  his  controlling."  Cf.  53,  5-8,  12.  It  states  that  the  friend 
was  the  eternal  pattern  of  Beauty.  But  the  type  selected  for  "  hues,"  thanks 
to  contemporary  spelling,  Hews,  enabled  the  poet  to  convey  something  more 
which  was  apparent  to  the  person  addressed  and  is  not  apparent  now.  Of  this 
I  am  convinced.  But  beyond  this  all  is  guesswork.  Some  hold  that  Mr.  W.  H. 
of  the  dedication  was  the  friend,  and  that  his  name  was  William  Hughes; 
others  seek  an  anagram  in  the  letters.  .  .  .  [  Hews  contains  the  initials  of  Henry 
Wriothesley,  Earl  of  Southampton].  Others^  may  riddle  it:  He  =  Herbert, 
W.  S.  =  Shakespeare.  ...  It  is  strange  that  a  passage  in  Chapman's  Preface  to 
the  Reader  ( Homer's  Iliads)  has  so  far  escaped  [the  attention  of  those  who  take 
Chapman  as  the  rival  poet  mentioned  in  the  Sonnets:]  "  Another  right  learned, 
honest,  and  entirely  loved  friend  of  mine,  M.  Robert  Hews."  Lee:  [The 
Hughes  theory  is  a  fantastic  suggestion.]  No  known  contemporary  of  the  name, 
either  in  age  or  position  in  life,  bears  any  resemblance  to  the  young  man  who 
Ss  addressed  by  Sh.  in  his  sonnets.  (Life,  p.  93m)  Butler:  There  was  a  William 
Hughes,  or  Hewes  (both  forms  appearing),  who  after  having  been  "many 
years"  in  the  navy  and  served  as  steward  in  the  Vanguard,  Swiftsure,  and 
Dreadnought,  applied  in  1633-34  f°r  the  post  of  cook,  which  I  learn  was  rather 
more  highly  paid  than  that  of  steward;  he  was  appointed,  and  died  in  March 
1636-37.  This  man  is  quite  as  likely  to  have  been  Mr.  W.  H.  as  any  of  the 
others,  (p.  115.)  [This  is  surely  a  pleasingly  violent  reaction  from  the  usual 
dabbling  with  noblemen  in  connection  with  the  sonnet  mystery.  —  Ed.] 
Creighton:  A  play  upon  one  of  the  baronies  or  courtesy  titles  of  the  Earl  of 
Pembroke,  —  Fitzhugh,  or  Fitzhew;  so  that  the  line  construes:  "  A  man  in  hew 
(my  lord  Fitzhew),  —  the  lord  of  all  the  sons  of  Hew."  (Blackwood,  169:  672.) 
Beeching:  As  the  word  stands  on  the  page  in  the  Q  it  certainly  looks  mo- 
mentous. .  .  .  But  it  must  be  noted  that  what  chiefly  impresses  the  modern 
reader  is  the  capital  letter  with  the  italics;  and  this  is  found  with  every  word 
printed  in  italics  throughout  the  sonnets,  so  that  a  capital  letter  to  a  reader 
of  the  Q  would  not  be  in  the  least  suggestive  of  a  proper  name  as  it  is  to  us. 
Moreover,  the  line  contains  no  pun,  such  as  we  have  upon  the  name  "Will" 
in  S.  135,  etc.  (Intro.,  p.  xlii.)  Mackail:  No  argument  can  be  safely  based  on 
the  capital  and  the  italics,  for  these  are  found  elsewhere,  in  such  common  words 


56  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xx 

as  autumn,  informer,  heretic,  and  statues,  and  are  clearly  a  mere  irrelevant 
eccentricity  of  the  type-setter  in  a  very  irregularly  and  carelessly  printed 
volume.  (p;  194.)  [On  this  matter  of  the  italic  type,  see  the  notes  on  rose  in 
1,2.  —  Ed.]  Porter:  There  is  reason  enough  for  [the  italics]  in  the  special 
Elizabethan  sense  of  hew  and  Hews,  i.e.,  shape,  joined  with  the  common  sense, 
"  hue,"  appropriately  alluding  here  to  the  complexion  as  that  of  a  "  woman's 
face"  painted  fair  by  Nature's  hand,  and  the  larger  sense  of  the  sonnet  as  a 
whole,  in  its  praise  of  the  double  charm  of  masculine  and  feminine  Hews,  or 
shapes.  W.  B.  Brown  [revives  the  pun  theory  in  N.  Sf  Q.,  nth  s.,  7:  241,  262, 
finding  puns  also  in  6,  5;  78,3;  134, 10;  and  elsewhere.]  H.  D.  Gray:  The  type  of 
pun  [found  in  this  line]  seems  to  me  so  uncharacteristic  that  the  italicized  word 
gives  us  the  only  name  which  Sh.'s  friend  could  not  have  borne.  If  Sh.  used 
this  sort  of  cryptogram,  then  there  is  little  to  say  against  the  Baconian  theory. 
(Pub.  M.  L.  A.,  n.s.  23:  634m) 

controwling.  Schmidt:  Overpowering,  being  superior  to.  [Cf.  107,  3,  and 
Cor., Ill,  i,  161 :  "  Not  having  the  power  to  do  the  good  it  would,  for  the  ill  which 
doth  control  't."]  Tyler:  Rendering  all  others  subordinate.  Beeching:  May 
mean  "  including  and  harmonizing  all  particular  beauties  of  complexion  in 
his,"  an  idea  put  from  the  other  side  in  S.  53,  or  perhaps,  "  commanding  all 
other  faces  by  his,"  an  idea  expanded  in  the  line  that  follows. 

8.  Which.  Walker:  Refers  to  all  hues,  not  to  a  man.  [Lettsom  adds  that  W. 
evidently  meant  to  the  fact  expressed  by  "  all  hues  .  .  .  controlling."]  (3:  357.) 

9-1 1.  Isaac:  Cf.  Marlowe,  H.  &  L.,  87-88: 

And  such  as  knew  he  was  a  man  would  say, 
"  Leander,  thou  art  made  for  amorous  play." 

(Jahrb.,  19:  249.) 

/Walsh:  Cf.  Ausonius,  In  Puerum  Formosum: 

Dum  dubitat  Natura,  marem  faceretne  puellam, 
Factus  es,  o  pulcher,  paene  puella,  puer! 

n.  defeated.  Schmidt:  Disappointed,  [i.e.,  in  the  sense  of  "deprived." 
—  Ed.] 

Steevens:  It  is  impossible  to  read  this  fulsome  panegyric,  addressed  to  a 
male  object,  without  an  equal  mixture  of  disgust  and  indignation.  We  may 
remark  also,  that  the  same  phrase  employed  by  Sh.  to  denote  the  height  of 
encomium,  is  used  by  Dryden  to  express  the  extreme  of  reproach: 

If  a  man, 
Corrupted  to  a  woman;  thy  man-mistress. 

(Don  Sebastian.) 

[It  will  be  noted,  of  course,  that  this  is  not  the  same  phrase  as  Sh.'s.  —  Ed.] 
Malone:  Some  part  of  this  indignation  might  perhaps  have  been  abated,  if 
it  had  been  considered  that  such  addresses  to  men,  however  indelicate,  were 
customary  in  our  author's  time,  and  neither  imported  criminality  nor  were  es- 


xx]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  57 

teemed  indecorous.  See  a  note  on  lover,  S.  32.  Furnivall  [regards  the  sonnet 
as  Sh.'s  answer  to]  the  thoughtless  objection  that  many  sonnets  in  this  group 
confuse  the  sex  of  the  person  they're  addressed  to.   (Intro.,  p.  lxv.) 

[Surely  it  is  with  vanity  and  quite  needless  vexation  of  spirit  that  this 
sonnet  has  been  made  a  means  of  adding  to  the  troublous  suspicion  that  some 
form  of  sexual  perversion  lurks  in  the  collection.  Call  the  third  quatrain 
obscene,  if  need  be,  but  do  not  fail  —  as  many  have  done  —  to  note  its  wholly 
light  and  humorous  tone,  in  contrast  with  the  hectic  intensity  of  morbid 
eroticism.  It  is  so  different  from  what  Sh.  was  able  to  do,  on  occasion,  when 
it  was  his  purpose  to  represent  passion,  that  one  may  agree  unhesitatingly 
with  Harris  {The  Man  Sh.,  p.  234),  who,  though  calling  the  poet  a  sensualist, 
observes  that  "the  sextet  of  this  sonnet  absolutely  disproves"  the  implications 
of  Steevens  and  others.  To  the  same  effect  is  Brandl's  recent  Introduction, 
where  it  is  truly  observed  that  the  very  substance  of  S.  20  is  to  the  effect  that 
the  friend  may  enjoy  women  —  the  poet  wishes  only  the  love  of  his  heart, 
(p.  xxvii.)  —  Ed.] 

[Esoteric  interpreters  of  the  Sonnets  have  found  S.  20  especially  fascinating. 
An  anonymous  writer  in  Blackwood's  (137:  774),  interprets  it  as  referring  to 
the  dual  character  of  "eternal  love  "  in  the  platonic  philosophy,  and  compares 
Fenton's  Monophyle  (1572),  as  follows:  "  [The  philosophers]  imagined  love  to 
be  a  most  excellent  form  or  plot,  exceeding  generally  the  consideration  of  man, 
and  therefore  did  figure  unto  us  an  Androgina  in  whom  they  meant  a  man 
composed  of  masculine  and  feminine  sex."  It  was  Sh.'s  study  of  St.  Augustine 
and  Dante,  the  critic  continues,  which  "  led  him  to  adopt  the  truly  grand  idea 
pictured  in  the  20th  Sonnet."  Godwin  also  interprets  mystically:  Sh.  is  here 
representing  the  personified  genius  of  all  art  as  androgynous,  or  double-sexed. 
(p-  179.)] 

George  Ross,  [in  his  essay  on"  Sh.'s  Mad  Characters,"  makes  the  following 
observation:]  As  in  heaven  there  is  no  marrying  nor  giving  in  marriage,  so  in 
the  poetic  elysium  there  is  no  sex.  ...  No  doubt  Sh.  himself,  at  a  later  day, 
trembled  at  his  own  temerity,  .  .  .  but  ...  his  sonnets  remain  to  show  that  it 
is  possible  to  ascend  to  a  region  of  abstraction,  where  fact  is  absorbed  in  feeling 
and  sex  is  one  and  indivisible.   {Studies,  p.  52.) 

H.  D.  Gray  [finds  this  sonnet  to  be  opposed  to  both  the  Southampton  and 
Pembroke  theories,  since  it  is]  incredible  that  Sh.  should  have  told  either  of 
these  earls,  even  in  jest,  that  only  sex  stood  in  the  way  of  his  grace's  marriage 
to  an  actor.   {Pub.  M.  L.  A.,  n.s.  23:  643.) 

[It  seems  to  be  S.  20  to  which  we  must  attach  a  remark  recorded  in  Coleridge's 
Table  Talk  (May  14,  1833):]  It  seems  to  me  that  the  Sonnets  could  only  have 
come  from  a  man  deeply  in  love,  and  in  love  with  a  woman;  and  there  is  one 
sonnet  which,  from  its  incongruity,  I  take  to  be  a  purposed  blind. 


58  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xxi 

21 

So  is  it  not  with  me  as  with  that  Muse, 
Stird  by  a  painted  beauty  to  his  verse, 
Who  heauen  it  selfe  for  ornament  doth  vse, 
And  euery  faire  with  his  faire  doth  reherse, 
Making  a  coopelment  of  proud  compare  5 

With  Sunne  and  Moone,  with  earth  and  seas  rich  gems: 
With  Aprills  first  borne  flowers  and  all  things  rare, 
That  heauens  ayre  in  this  huge  rondure  hems, 
O  let  me  true  in  loue  but  truly  write,  9 

And  then  beleeue  me,  my  loue  is  as  faire, 
As  any  mothers  childe,  though  not  so  bright 
As  those  gould  candells  fixt  in  heauens  ayer: 
Let  them  say  more  that  like  of  heare-say  well, 
I  will  not  prayse  that  purpose  not  to  sell. 

1.  is  it]  it  is  M1. 

5.  coopelment]  complement  G1,  S1;  compliment  G2,  S2,  E;  couplement  C,  M, 
etc. 

6.  earth]  eatth  1640. 

8.  this]  his  E,  A,  Kly.        ayre  in  this]  vault  in  his  Sta  conj. 
12.  those]  these  N  [error].        in  heauens  ayer]  i'  the  heavens  are  But. 

With  this  sonnet  cf.  S.  130  and  notes. 

Wyndham:  This  sonnet  offers  the  first  attack  on  the  false  art  of  a  rival  poet. 
Beeching:  [The  Muse  here  mentioned  is]  not  the  rival  poet  mentioned  later 
who  praised  W.  H.,  for  he,  ex  hypothesis  was  not  a  "  painted  beauty."  Tyler: 
Possibly  some  particular  poet  may  be  intended. 

4.  faire.  See  note  on  18,  7. 

5.  coopelment.  M alone:  I  formerly  thought  this  word  was  of  our  author's 
invention,  but  I  have  lately  found  it  in  Spenser's  F.  Q.:  "Allied  with  bands  of 
mutual  couplement."  [The  N.  E.  D.  cites  other  examples  from  the  16th 
century.  —  Ed.]   Schmidt:  Combination. 

8.  rondure.  Malone:  A  round;  rondeur,  Fr.  Cf.  K.J.,  II,  i,  259:  "  'Tis  not 
the  roundure  of  your  old-fac'd  walls."  [Malone  erroneously  refers  the  line  to 
Henry   V.]  Tyler:  [Probably]  the  vast  circumference  of  the  limiting  horizon. 

9.  true  in  love.  Henry  Brown:  The  poet's  motto.  His  seal,  preserved  at 
Stratford,  bears  the  initials,  "W.  S.,"  entwined  with  the  true  lovers'  knot, 
(p.  170.) 


xxi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  59 

12.  candells.  Malone:  Cf.  R.  &  /.,  Ill,  v,  9:  "  Night's  candles  are  burnt 
out";  Macb.,  II,  i,  5:  "There's  husbandry  in  heaven;  their  candles  are  all 
out";  M.V.,  V,  i,  220:  "  By  these  blessed  candles  of  the  night."  Verity:  [Cf. 
also  Fairfax's  Tasso,  Bk.  ix,  st.  10,  "When  heaven's  small  candles  next  shall 
shine";  Linche's  (?)  Diella,  30:  "  He  that  can  count  the  candles  of  the  sky  ";  and 
several  passages  in  Marlowe,  Bullen  ed.,  2:  137,  158,  196.] 

13.  like  of  heare-say.  Dowden:  Schmidt's  explanation  is  "that  fall  in  love 
with  what  has  been  praised  by  others";  but  does  it  not  rather  mean,  "that 
like  to  be  buzzed  about  by  talk  "  ?  Rolfe  :  Apparently  referring  to  the  common- 
place style  of  which  he  has  been  speaking.  Tyler:  Are  pleased  with  idle  and 
extravagant  talk.   Beeching:  Like  vague  and  exaggerated  rumour. 

13-14.  Steevens:  Cf.  L.  L.  L.,  IV,  iii,  239-40: 

Fie,  painted  rhetoric!  O,  she  needs  it  not. 
To  things  of  sale  a  seller's  praise  belongs. 

Malone:  Cf.  T.&  C,  IV,  i,  78:  "We  '11  not  commend  what  we  intend  to  sell  " 
[noting  Warburton's  conjecture  that  it  should  read  "intend  not  sell"].  Wynd- 
ham:  Cf.  Daniel,  Delia,  S.  53: 

None  other  fame,  mine  unambitious  Muse 

Affected  ever,  but  t'  eternize  thee! 

All  other  honours  do  my  hopes  refuse, 

Which  meaner  prized  and  momentary  be. 

For,  God  forbid !  I  should  my  papers  blot 

With  mercenary  lines,  with  servile  pen; 

Praising  virtues  in  them  that  have  them  not, 

Basely  attending  on  the  hopes  of  men. 

Beeching:  Cf.  102,  3-4. 

[Main:  For  examples  of  the  kind  of  "couplement  of  proud  compare"  which 
Sh.  here  ridicules,  cf.  Daniel,  Delia,  S.  19: 

Restore  thy  tresses  to  the  golden  ore! 

Yield  Cytherea's  son  those  arks  of  love! 

Bequeath  the  heavens  the  stars  that  I  adore! 

And  to  the  Orient  do  thy  pearls  remove! 

Yield  thy  hands'  pride  unto  the  ivory  white! 

To  Arabian  odour  give  thy  breathing  sweet ! 

Restore  thy  blush  unto  Aurora  bright! 

To  Thetis  give  the  honour  of  thy  feet!  (etc.); 
Barnes,  Parthenophil  &  Parthenophe,  S.  48: 

Her  hairs  no  grace  of  golden  wires  want; 

Pure  pearls  with  perfect  rubines  are  inset; 

True  diamonds,  in  eyes;  sapphires,  in  veins;  (etc.)  ; 
Davies  of  Hereford's  Wit's  Pilgrimage,  S.  73;  Spenser,  Amoretti,  S.  9: 
Long  while  I  sought  to  what  I  might  compare 
Those  powerful  eyes,  which  lighten  my  dark  spright; 


60  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xxi 

Yet  find  I  naught  on  earth,  to  which  I  dare 
Resemble  th'  image  of  their  goodly  light. 
Not  to  the  sun;  for  they  do  shine  by  night: 
Nor  to  the  moon;  for  they  are  changed  never: 
Nor  to  the  stars;  for  they  have  purer  sight: 
Nor  to  the  fire;  for  they  consume  not  ever: 
Nor  to  the  lightning;  for  they  still  persever: 
Nor  to  the  diamond;  for  they  are  more  tender: 
Nor  unto  crystal;  for  nought  may  them  sever: 
Nor  unto  glass;  such  baseness  mought  offend  her. 
Then  to  the  Maker  self  they  likest  be, 
Whose  light  doth  lighten  all  that  here  we  see; 

ibid.,  S.  64: 

Her  lips  did  smell  like  unto  gillyflowers; 

Her  ruddy  cheeks  like  unto  roses  red; 

Her  snowy  brows  like  budded  bellamoures; 

Her  lovely  eyes  like  pinks  but  newly  spread; 

Her  goodly  bosom  like  a  strawberry  bed; 

Her  neck  like  to  a  bunch  of  columbines; 

Her  breast,  like  lilies  ere  their  leaves  be  shed; 

Her  nipples,  like  young  blossomed  jessamines;  (etc.).] 

[Dowden  adds  to  the  list  Griffin,  Fidessa,  S.  39: 

My  lady's  hair  is  threads  of  beaten  gold, 
Her  front  the  purest  crystal  eye  hath  seen, 
Her  eyes  the  brightest  stars  the  heavens  hold, 
Her  cheeks  red  roses  such  as  seld  have  been;  (etc.); 

and  Constable's  Diana,  6th  Decade,  S.  1 : 

One  sun  unto  my  life's  day  gives  true  light; 
One  moon  dissolves  my  stormy  night  of  woes; 
One  star  my  fate  and  happy  fortune  shows; 
One  saint  I  serve,  one  shrine  with  vows  I  dight. 

On  the  other  hand,  for  the  ridicule  of  this  type  of  love  poetry,  he  cites  Sidney, 
A.&S.,S.  3: 

Let  dainty  wits  cry  on  the  Sisters  nine, 

That  bravely  maskt,  their  fancies  may  be  told; 

Or  Pindar's  apes  flaunt  they  in  phrases  fine, 

Enamelling  with  pied  flowers  their  thoughts  of  gold; 
<     Or  else  let  them  in  statelier  glory  shine, 

Ennobling  new-found  tropes  with  problems  old; 

Or  with  strange  similes  enrich  each  line, 

Of  herbs  or  beasts  which  Inde  or  Afric  hold; 


xxi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  61 

and  Sh.  himself  in  L.  L.  L.,  V.  ii,  406: 

Taffeta  phrases,  silken  terms  precise, 
Three-piled  hyperboles,  spruce  affectation, 
Figures  pedantical. 

Krauss  (Jahrb.,  16:  176)  notes  also  S.  55  of  A.  &  S.: 

Muses!  I  oft  invoked  your  holy  aid, 

With  choicest  flowers  my  speech  t'  engarland  so, 

That  it,  despised  in  true  but  naked  show, 

Might  win  some  grace  in  your  sweet  grace  arrayed. 

And  oft  whole  troops  of  saddest  words  I  stayed, 

Striving  abroad  a  foraging  to  go.] 

Wyndham:  Cf.  Du  Bellay,  Contre  les  Petrarquides  : 

De  voz  beautez,  ce  n'est  que  tout  fin  or, 
Perles,  crystal,  marbre,  et  ivoyre  encor, 
Et  tout  l'honneur  de  l'lndique  thresor, 
Fleurs,  lis,  oeillets,  et  roses. 

D.  Klein  [quotes  also,  from  the  same  poem  of  Du  Bellay's:l 
J'ay  oublie  l'art  de  petrarquiser, 
Je  veux  d 'amour  franchement  deviser, 
Sans  vous  flatter  et  sans  me  deguiser. 

(Sewanee  Rev.,  13:  458.) 

The  whole  poem,  of  several  pages,  offers  a  close  parallel  to  the  similar  attacks 
in  the  Sonnets.  A  poet  was  expected  to  disclaim  the  practice  of  Petrarch's 
imitators  and  to  trounce  his  rivals  for  observing  it.   Drayton  does  both. 

[Acheson  views  this  sonnet  as  written  in  ridicule  of  Chapman's  The  Amor- 
ous Zodiac,  1595.   Cf.  especially  stanzas  8-9: 

Thy  smooth  embow'd  brow,  where  all  grace  I  see, 
My  second  month,  and  second  house  shall  be; 
Which  brow  with  her  clear  beauties  shall  delight 
The  Earth,  yet  sad,  and  overture  confer 
To  herbs,  buds,  flowers  and  verdure-gracing  Ver, 
Rendering  her  more  than  Summer  exquisite. 

All  this  fresh  April,  this  sweet  month  of  Venus, 
I  will  admire  this  brow  so  bounteous; 
This  brow,  brave  court  of  love  and  virtue  builded; 
This  brow,  where  Chastity  holds  garrison; 
This  brow,  that  blushless  none  can  look  upon; 
This  brow,  with  every  grace  and  honour  gilded; 

and  stanza  30  (from  L'Envoi): 

But,  gracious  love,  if  jealous  heaven  deny 
My  life  this  truly  blest  variety, 


62  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xxn 

Yet  will  I  thee  through  all  the  world  disperse; 
If  not  in  heaven,  amongst  those  braving  fires, 
Yet  here  thy  beauties,  which  the  world  admires, 
Bright  as  those  flames  shall  glister  in  my  verse. 

This  comparison  "not  only  clearly  shows  to  what  Sh.  refers  as  'those  gold 
candles  fix'd  in  heaven's  air,'  but  plainly  reveals  his  stroke  at  Chapman's  vanity 
and  self-praise,  and  also  proves  .  .  .  that  Sh.  here  avows  that  his  sonnets  were 
not  written  for  sale."  (Sh.  &  the  Rival  Poet,  p.  69.)  All  this  is  but  a  fragment  of 
Mr.  Acheson's  elaborate  theory  of  a  Chapman-Shakespeare  quarrel,  which  can- 
not be  adequately  represented  here.  The  parallels  just  cited  are  among  the  most 
plausible  of  many  dubious  ones.  A  reviewer  of  Acheson's  book  (Spectator, 
Nov.  21,  1903,  p.  872)  adds  the  suggestion  that  line  14  may  contain  a  play  on 
Chapman's  name,  —  "  That  is  a  chapman's  way  of  praising,  not  mine."  —  Ed.] 
Godwin:  Can  we  doubt  that  the  poet  was  here  writing  of  a  woman?  No 
poet  then  or  since,  writing  of  men,  indulged  in  the  extravagance  of  diction 
which  Sh.  disclaims.  [In  like  manner,  Walsh  groups  the  sonnet  with  those  to 
the  poet's  dark  mistress,  in  collocation  with  the  admittedly  similar  S.  130.] 


22 

My  glasse  shall  not  perswade  me  I  am  ould, 
So  long  as  youth  and  thou  are  of  one  date, 
But  when  in  thee  times  forrwes  I  behould, 
Then  look  I  death  my  daies  should  expiate. 
For  all  that  beauty  that  doth  couer  thee, 
Is  but  the  seemely  rayment  of  my  heart, 
Which  in  thy  brest  doth  Hue,  as  thine  in  me, 
How  can  I  then  be  elder  then  thou  art? 
O  therefore  loue  be  of  thy  selfe  so  wary, 
As  I  not  for  my  selfe,  but  for  thee  will, 
Bearing  thy  heart  which  I  will  keepe  so  chary 
As  tender  nurse  her  babe  from  faring  ill, 

Presume  not  on  thy  heart  when  mine  is  slaine, 
Thou  gau'st  me  thine  not  to  giue  backe  againe. 

2.  are]  art  1640,  L,  G,  S,  E. 

3.  forrwes]  forrowes  1640,  L;  sorrows  G,  S,  E;  furrows  C,  M,  etc. 

4.  expiate]  expirate  Stee  conj.,  Hu2. 
11.  thy]  my  First  Folio  ed.   [error]. 


xxn]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  63 

1.  ould.  Isaac  [points  out  the  conventional  character  of,  this  theme  of 
wrinkled  age.   Cf.  Barnfield's  Affectionate  Shepherd: 

Behold  my  gray  head,  full  of  silver  hairs, 
My  wrinkled  skin,  deep  furrows  in  my  face; 

Gascoigne's  Flowers:  "My  wrinkled  cheeks  bewray  that  pride  of  heat  is  past"; 
Daniel's  S.  21:  "Whilst  age  upon  my  wasted  body  steals";  and  passages  in 
Tasso  and  Petrarch.  (Jahrb.,  17:  170-71.)]  Lee:  Cf.  62,  9-10;  73,  1-2;  138,  6. 
[Sh.'s]  reference  ...  to  his  growing  age  was  a  conventional  device  —  traceable 
to  Petrarch  —  of  all  sonnetteers  of  the  day,  and  admits  of  no  literal  interpre- 
tation. .  .  .  Daniel  in  Delia,  23,  when  29  years  old,  exclaimed:  "My  years 
draw  on  my  everlasting  night,  .  .  .  My  days  are  done."  [This  is  S.  23  of  the 
"  Poems  and  Sonnets"  printed  after  Sidney's  A.  &  S.,  1591,  not  of  the  Delia 
volume.  —  Ed.]  .  .  .  Similarly  Drayton,  in  a  sonnet  (Idea,  14)  published  in 
1594,  when  he  was  barely  31,  wrote: 

Looking  into  the  glass  of  my  youth's  miseries, 
I  see  the  ugly  face  of  my  deformed  cares, 
With  withered  brows  all  wrinkled  with  despairs; 

and  a  little  later  (No.  43  of  the  1599  edition)  he  repeated  how  "  Age  rules  my 
lines  with  wrinkles  in  my  face."  All  these  lines  are  echoes  of  Petrarch,  and  Sh. 
and  Drayton  followed  the  Italian  master's  words  more  closely  than  their 
contemporaries.  Cf.  Petrarch's  S.  143  (to  Laura  alive),  or  S.  81  (to  Laura 
after  death);  the  latter  begins: 

Dicemi  spesso  il  mio  fidato  speglio, 
L'  animo  stanco  e  la  cangiata  scorza 
E  la  scemata  mia  destrezza  e  forza: 
Non  ti  nasconder  piu ;  tu  se'  pur  veglio. 

(i.e.,  "  My  faithful  glass  often  shows  me  my  weary  spirit  and  my  wrinkled  skin, 
and  my  decaying  wit  and  strength:  it  cannot  longer  be  hidden  from  you,  you 
are  old.")  (Life,  p.  86.)  [On  this  subject  see  further  under  Sonnets  62  and  73. 
Tyler,  noting  the  similar  passages  in  Drayton,  is  disposed  to  view  them  as 
borrowings  from  Sh.  (Intro.,  p.  41.)  —  Ed.] 

4.  expiate.  Steevens:  I  do  not  comprehend  how  the  poet's  days  were  to 
be  expiated  by  death.  Perhaps  he  wrote:  "  my  days  should  expirate,"  i.e.,  bring 
them  to  an  end.  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  I,  iv,  109:  "  Expire  the  term  of  a  despised  life," 
[and  the  words  "  festinate,"  "  conspirate,"  "  combinate,"  "  ruinate,"  in  other 
plays.]  Maloxe:  The  old  reading  is  certainly  right.  Then  do  I  expect,  says 
Sh.,  that  death  should  fill  up  the  measure  of  my  days.  [Cf.  Locrine,  1595: 
"Lives  Sabren  yet  to  expiate  my  wrath?",  i.e.,  fully  to  satisfy  my  wrath; 
Chapman's  Byron's  Conspiracy,  1608,  [where]  an  old  courtier  says  he  is  "A 
poor  and  expiate  humour  of  the  court";  and  R.  3,  III,  iii,  23:  "Make  haste; 
the  hour  of  death  is  expiate."]  Schmidt:  Bring  to  a  close.  N.  E.  D.:  To  ex- 
tinguish (a  person's  rage)  by  suffering  it  to  the  full;  to  end  (one's  sorrows,  a 
suffering  life)  by  death. 


64  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xxn 

5-7.  Massey:  Cf.  Sidney,  Arcadia  : 

My  wealth  is  you, 


My  beauty's  hue  your  beams,  my  health  your  deeds; 
My  mind  for  weeds  your  virtue's  livery  wears; 


and  (ibid.): 


My  true-love  hath  my  heart,  and  I  have  his, 

By  just  exchange  one  for  the  other  given: 

I  hold  his  dear,  and  mine  he  cannot  miss, 

There  never  was  a  better  bargain  driven. 

His  heart  in  me  keeps  me  and  him  in  one, 

My  heart  in  him  his  thoughts  and  senses  guides; 

He  loves  my  heart  for  once  it  was  his  own; 

I  cherish  his  because  in  me  it  bides.  (p.  74.) 

[In  this  familiar  Elizabethan  conceit  the  more  esoteric  interpreters  find  a 
deeper  significance.  Thus  Heraud  observes:]  This  quasi  identification  of  the 
subject  and  object  doubtless  suggested  to  [Barnstorff]  the  notion  .  .  .  that  the 
poet  throughout  addressed  himself.  The  error  is  very  pardonable,  but  easily 
corrected.  It  was  not  his  ego,  but  his  alter  ego,  in  the  ideal  personality,  in  the 
universal  humanity,  that  the  poet  apostrophised.  [Cf.  S.  62.]  (p.  491.)  Simpson: 
Such  phrases  as  " My  heart  is  in  thy  breast"  .  .  .  and  the  like,  which  now  seem 
to  us  frigid  conceits,  were  in  Sh.'s  days  warm  with  the  blood  of  a  still  living 
philosophy.  [Cf.  48,  10-11,  where  he  justifies]  the  expression  by  insinuating  a 
distinction  between  his  own  living  and  acting  self  and  that  soul  of  his  which 
in  the  ecstasy  of  love  had  taken  up  its  abode  in  his  friend's  breast,    (p.  32.) 

10.  [The  apparent  necessity  for  emphasizing  "thee"  makes  the  rhythm  of 
this  line  unusual  and  awkward.  —  Ed.] 

11-14.  Dowden:  The  first  hint  of  possible  wrong  committed  by  the  youth 
against  friendship. 

14.  Henry  Brown:  Cf.  Wyatt,  ["The  Lover  Forsaketh  his  Unkind  Love":] 
My  heart  I  gave  thee,  not  to  do  it  pain, 
But  to  preserve,  lo,  it  to  thee  was  taken.         (p.  170.) 


xxm]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  65 

23 
As  an  vnperfect  actor  on  the  stage, 
Who  with  his  feare  is  put  besides  his  part, 
Or  some  fierce  thing  repleat  with  too  much  rage, 
Whose  strengths  abondance  weakens  his  owne  heart; 
So  I  for  feare  of  trust,  forget  to  say,  5 

The  perfect  ceremony  of  loues  right, 
And  in  mine  owne  loues  strength  seeme  to  decay, 
Ore-charg'd  with  burthen  of  mine  owne  loues  might: 
O  let  my  books  be  then  the  eloquence, 
And  domb  presagers  of  my  speaking  brest, 
Who  pleade  for  loue,  and  look  for  recompence, 
More  then  that  tonge  that  more  hath  more  exprest. 
O  learne  to  read  what  silent  loue  hath  writ, 
To  heare  wit  eies  belongs  to  loues  fine  wiht. 

2.  put]  but  L.        besides]  beside  C,  M1,  Co2,  Hu2,  But,  Be. 

4.  strengths  abondance]  strength  abondance  L;  strength  abundance  G1; 
strength  abundant  G2,  S,  E. 

5.  of]  or  Sta  conj. 

6.  right]  rite  M,  etc. 

8.  burthen]  burden  G2,  S2,  E,  Co,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Hal,  R,  Wh2, 
Ox,  Her,  Be,  N,  Wa. 

9.  books]  looks  S,  E,  C,  But,  Be,  Wa,  Tu. 
10.  presagers]  presages  Co2  [error]. 

12.  that  more]  that  love  Sta  conj.;  that  less  But.    more  hath]  hath  not  G2. 
more  exprest]  o'er  exprest  Wa  conj. 
14.  wit .  .  .  wiht]  with  .  .  .  wit  1640,  G,  etc. 

Walsh:  The  edition  of  1640  for  once  gives  a  tolerable  title,  heading  this 
[sonnet]  "A  Bashful  Lover."  It  might  then  belong  [with  128  and  136,] —  not 
that  it  must  have  necessarily  belonged  to  the  dark  mistress.  Simpson:  [This 
sonnet  turns  upon  another  commonplace  of  Renaissance  sonnet  philosophy.] 
This  trembling,  prescribed  by  the  Codex  Amoris,  is  spoken  of  in  the  4th,  5th, 
6th,  and  7th  Sonnets  of  Dante's  Vita  Nuova,  and  in  several  of  Petrarch's, 
as  S.  34.  (p.  54.) 

Isaac  [notes  parallels  for  the  idea  of  a  love  too  great  for  words,  in  Spenser, 
Watson,  Raleigh,  Wyatt,  Tasso,  and  Petrarch.  He  also  cites,  for  the  notion 
of  the  eyes  as  interpreters  of  the  heart,  Daniel,  S.  8,  "You  mine  eyes,  the 


66  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xxm 

agents  of  my  heart";  Southwell,  "Her  eye  in  silence  hath  a  speech  Which 
eye  best  understands";  and  Spenser,  A moretti,  43:  "Mine  eyes,  with  meek 
humility,  Love-learned  letters  to  her  eyes  to  read."]  (Jahrb.,  17:  172-73.) 
Henry  Brown  [compares  a  sonnet  by  John  Davies:] 

My  looks  shall  be  love,  and  wit's  record-books, 

Wherein  she  still  may  read  what  I  conceive 

Of  her  sweet  words,  and  what  replies  I  give.  (p.  171.) 

1-2.  M ALONE:  Cf.  Cor.,  V,  iii,  40-42: 

Like  a  dull  actor  now, 
I  have  forgot  my  part,  and  I  am  out, 
Even  to  a  full  disgrace. 

...  It  may  be  conjectured  that  these  poems  were  not  composed  till  our  author 
had  arrived  in  London,  and  became  conversant  with  the  stage.  He  had  perhaps 
himself  experienced  what  he  here  describes.  Steevens:  It  is  highly  probable 
that  our  author  had  seen  plays  represented,  before  he  left  his  own  country. 
Malone:  The  seeing  a  few  plays  exhibited  by  a  company  of  strollers  in  a 
barn  at  Stratford,  or  in  Warwick  Castle,  would  not  however  have  made  Sh. 
acquainted  with  the  feelings  of  a  timid  actor  on  the  stage. 

2.  besides.  [This  form  of  the  preposition  has  abundant  parallel  in  Sh.  For 
the  meaning,  cf.  the  161 1  Authorized  Version,  2  Cor.  5:  13:  "Whether  we  be 
besides  our  selves"  (cited  in  N.  E.  D.).  —  Ed.] 

3-4.  Tyler:  Some  fierce  animal  which  has  lost  self-control. 

5.  for  feare  of  trust.  Delius:  From  want  of  self-confidence.  Dowden: 
Schmidt  explains  "doubting  of  being  trusted,"  but  the  comparison  is  to  an 
imperfect  actor,  who  dare  not  trust  himself.  Observe  the  construction  of  the 
first  8  lines;  5-6  refer  to  1-2;  7-8  to  3-4.  [With  this  Rolfe  agrees.]  Tyler:  It 
seems  doubtful  whether  [this]  is  to  be  regarded  as  meaning  "  fearing  that  I 
shall  not  be  trusted,"  or  "  fearing  to  trust  myself."  ...  I  prefer  the  former. 
Beeching:  The  parallel  with  the  actor  shows  that  trust  is  active.  Porter: 
Wanting  to  trust  so  sorely  that  he  does  not  dare  to. 

8.  McClumpha:  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  I,  iv,  22:  "Under  love's  heavy  burden  do  I 
sink."    (Jahrb.,  40:  189.)  < 

9.  books.  Malone:  [*  Capell]  would  read  "O  let  my  looks,"  etc.  But  the 
context,  I  think,  shows  that  the  old  copy  is  right.  The  poet  finding  that  he 
could  not  sufficiently  collect  his  thoughts  to  express  his  esteem  by  speech, 
requests  that  his  writings  may  speak  for  him.  So  afterwards:  "  O  learn  to  read 
what  silent  love  hath  writ."  Had  "looks"  been  the  author's  word,  he  hardly 
would  have  used  it  again  in  the  next  line  but  one.  Boswell:  It  is  dangerous 
to  make  any  alteration  where  the  old  copy  is  intelligible,  or  I  should  give  a 
decided  preference  to  the  reading  [of  Capell];  the  eloquence  of  looks  is  more 
in  unison  with  love's  fine  wit,  which  can  hear  with  eyes.  [It  will  be  noticed 
that  both  Malone  and  Boswell  overlook  the  fact  that  Sewell  had  made  the 
change  proposed  by  Capell.  —  Ed.]   Isaac:    [The  Q  reading]  surely  suits  well 


xxm]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  67 

neither  the  progress  of  thought  in  the  sonnet  nor  any  image  presented  by  this 
verse,  while  "looks"  meets  all  the  demands  of  harmony  of  ideas  and  pregnancy 
of  imagery.  ...  In  line  12  the  books  are  brought  into  a  wholly  unintelligible 
contrast  with  the  tongue;  in  this  case  they  must  say  more  than  the  tongue, 
which  otherwise  can  express  itself  more  and  better  than  books.  I  take  this 
to  be  nonsense.  .  .  .  [Again,  of  line  13:]  for  the  understanding  of  written  love- 
poems  one  needs  only  a  knowledge  of  writing  and  a  small  modicum  of  sense. 
Since  the  poet  must  assume  both  these  on  the  part  of  his  loved  one,  and  the 
understanding  of  his  verses  is  certainly  not  made  difficult  by  any  obscure 
manner  of  utterance,  I  can  find  absolutely  nothing  which  was  to  be  learned. 
.  .  .  How  the  poet  is  able  to  name  a  love  "silent"  which  is  expressed  in  love 
poems,  is  not  readily  understood;  while  one  cannot  possibly  object  to  the 
beautiful  suggestion  that  silent  love  writes  its  poems  in  the  countenance.  .  .  . 
Sh.  compares  the  eye  frequently  to  a  book  in  which  one  writes  or  reads:  cf. 
93,  7-8;  L.  L.  L.,  IV,  ii,  113;  M.N.D.,  II,  ii,  122;  W.T.,  IV,  iv,  172;  R.  &  /., 
I,  iii,  81  ff.  He  uses  "write"  in  this  imaginative  sense  very  abundantly.  [Cf. 
also  Spenser's  43d  Sonnet,  cited  above,  both  for  the  general  idea  and  the  word 
"wit,"  —  "Which  her  deep  wit  .  .  .  will  soon  conceive  and  learn  to  construe 
well."  Sh.  may  have  had  this  sonnet  in  mind.]  ...  If,  then,  we  simply  reject 
the  unhappy  word  "books,"  everything  forced,  labored,  and  abstruse  vanishes 
from  the  verses;  and  if  we  put  "looks"  in  its  place,  we  can  enjoy  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  of  Sh.'s  sonnets  unimpaired.  (Archiv,  59:  263-67.)  Dowden: 
The  books  of  which  Sh.  speaks  are  probably  the  MS.  books  in  which  he  writes 
his  sonnets.  Massey:  These  books  are  the  sonnets  sent  in  "written  embas- 
sage." They  were  the  "dumb  presagers "  of  that  which  he  intended  to  say,  and 
afterwards  did  say,  publicly  to  his  friend  when  he  printed  [  V.  &  A .  and  Lucrece, 
dedicated  to  Southampton],  (p.  37.)  Sarrazin  [also  believes  the  books  were 
the  V.  &  A.  and  the  Lucrece.  (Jahrb.,  34:  371,  and  Sh.'s  Lehrjahre,  p.  169.)] 
Rolfe:  The  old  reading  is  supported  by  line  13.  J.  G.  B.  [(Shakes peariana,  2: 
495)  defends  the  emendation  "  looks,"  on  the  ground  that  to  "  look  for  recom- 
pense "  is  the  office  of  an  eye  rather  than  a  book.  With  "  presagers,"  too,  he 
compares  V.  &  A .,  457,  where  "  ill  presage  "  refers  to  Adonis's  look.]  Beeching: 
"Looks"  ...  is  an  almost  certain  emendation,  for  a  distinction  between  writing 
and  saying  is  not  here  to  the  point.  Even  if  a  "book"  might  be  contrasted 
with  a  "tongue,"  and  spoken  of  as  "dumb,"  how  could  it  be  a  presager  of 
speech?  And  if  "what  silent  love  hath  writ"  is  simply  a  sonnet,  why  should 
any  one  need  to  "learn  to  read"  it?  .  .  .  The  alliteration  of  the  line  confirms 
the  correction.  Bullen:  I  keep  the  Q  reading,  though  I  admit  that  Sewell's 
"looks"  is  a  highly  probable  emendation.  Acheson  [gives  a  new  turn  to 
Dowden's  interpretation,  dividing  the  Sonnets  into  groups  of  20,]  bound  to- 
gether in  some  crude  way  ...  in  what  Sh.  calls  "  books."  (Sh.  &  the  Rival  Poet, 
p.  43.)  [Though  but  few  editors  have  felt  justified  in  introducing  the  emenda- 
tion into  the  text,  I  believe  that  Isaac's  and  Beeching's  arguments  are  fairly 
conclusive.  Of  all  the  considerations  urged,  that  of  Rolfe  seems  to  me  the 
most  baseless.  —  Ed.] 


68  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xxm 

io.  domb  presagers.  Beeching:  The  reference  is  to  a  preliminary  dumb 
show,  like  that  before  the  play  in  Hamlet.  Von  Mauntz:  Cf.  Sidney,  A.  &  S., 
61:   "Now  with  slow  words,  now  with  dumb  eloquence";  and  Sonnet  85,  14. 

12.  Delius:  My  tongue,  which  has  said  more  and  said  that  more  more 
clearly.  Dowden:  More  than  that  tongue  (the  tongue  of  another  person  than 
Sh.)  which  hath  more  fully  expressed  more  ardours  of  love,  or  more  of  your 
perfections.  Rolfe:  ["That  tongue"  is  probably]  any  tongue,  however  eloquent. 
Tyler:  A  recompense  greater  (first  "more")  than  "that  tongue"  (the  voice  of 
my  books)  hath  better  (third  "more")  expressed  than  my  voice  could  do  that 
greater  love  and  recompense  ("that  more")  which  I  plead  for.  I  have  here 
adopted  an  interpretation  suggested  to  me  by  Mr.  G.  Bernard  Shaw.  [Butler's 
emendation  he  is  bold  to  introduce  because  of  "Sh.'s  love  of  antithesis"; 
"less"  he  interprets  as]  less  recompense  than  my  eyes  are  now  pleading  for. 
Abbott:  "  More"  is  frequently  used  as  a  noun  and  adverb  in  juxtaposition.  Cf. 
Lear,  V,  iii,  202:  "  If  there  be  more,  more  woeful."   (§  51.) 

Fleay  [views  this  sonnet  as  a  kind  of  parody  of  a  passage  in  Daniel's  Com- 
plaint of  Rosamond,  st.  19: 

Sweet  silent. rhetoric  of  persuading  eyes; 

Dumb  eloquence,  whose  power  doth  move  the  blood 

More  than  the  words  or  wisdom  of  the  wise.] 

"Eloquence  and  dumb  presagers"  is  a  palpable  hit  at  the  "silent  rhetoric" 
and  "dumb  eloquence."  .  .  .  The  last  line  of  the  sonnet  is  to  my  mind  not 
serious,  but  a  very  delicate  thrust  at  Daniel's  lines,  often,  but  more  roughly 
burlesqued  by  subsequent  writers.   (Biog.  Chron.,  2:  216.) 

Butler  [(pp.  69-70)  attaches  to  this  sonnet,  apparently  in  connection  with 
S.  20,  some  repulsive  suspicions  which  it  is  neither  easy  nor  desirable  to  compre- 
hend. —  Ed.] 

Isaac:  [Addressed  to  a  woman.]  The  tone,  with  all  consideration  for  the 
extravagant  conception  of  friendship  in  that  time,  is  decidedly  too  tender  for  a 
sonnet  of  friendship.  (Archiv,  59:  262.)  Godwin  [thinks  this  to  be  the  first 
sonnet  addressed  to  the  lady,  perhaps  dropped  into  her  lap  by  the  poet], 
(p-  I33-)  W.  C.  Hazlitt:  [The  sonnet]  seems  to  have  been  composed  just  when 
circumstances  led  to  a  suspension  of  theatrical  performances  in  London  in  1593 
and  the  appearance  of  Sh.  as  a  lyrical  writer.  He  appears  to  glance  at  his  own 
not  too  successful  efforts  as  a  performer  of  parts,  and  to  point  to  his  books, 
that  is,  his  two  poems,  as  pleaders  for  him.  (Sh.,  Himself  and  His  Work,  p.  252.) 

E.  J.  Ellis:  The  sense  of  [this  sonnet]  is  in  couplets,  the  lines  falling  by  their 
meaning  into  pairs  all  the  way  through,  the  second  of  each  pair  repeating  and 
completing  the  first  after  the  manner  of  "parallelisms"  which  form  the  rhyme 
of  biblical  poetry.  The  5th  and  6th  lines  are  exceptions,  but  the  rest  show  this 
accidental  quality  so  strikingly  that  they  suggest  how  Hebrew  poetry  might  be 
translated  into  English  without  losing  its  own  intention,  and  yet  be  made  to 
belong  to  the  songship  of  another  language. 


xxiv]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  69 

24 
Mine  eye  hath  play'd  the  painter  and  hath  steeld, 
Thy  beauties  forme  in  table  of  my  heart, 
My  body  is  the  frame  wherein  ti's  held, 
And  perspectiue  it  is  best  Painters  art. 
For  through  the  Painter  must  you  see  his  skill,  5 

To  finde  where  your  true  Image  pictur'd  lies, 
Which  in  my  bosomes  shop  is  hanging  stil, 
That  hath  his  windowes  glazed  with  thine  eyes : 
Now  see  what  good-turnes  eyes  for  eies  haue  done,  9 

Mine  eyes  haue  drawne  thy  shape,  and  thine  for  me 
Are  windowes  to  my  brest,  where-through  the  Sun 
Delights  to  peepe,  to  gaze  therein  on  thee 
Yet  eyes  this  cunning  want  to  grace  their  art 
They  draw  but  what  they  see,  know  not  the  hart. 

I.  steeld]  stelVd  C,  A,  Kt,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  Gl,  Kly,  Cam,  Do,  R,  Wh2, 
Ty,  Ox,  Her,  Be,  Bull;  steled  B;  stel'd  CI,  Co3. 

4.  perspectiue]  perspective  :  Wedmore  conj. 

5-6.  you  .  .  .  your]  thou  .  .  .  thy  Stengel  conj.,  Nicholson  conj. 

9.  good-turnes]  Hyphen  omitted  by  G,  etc. 

II.  where-through]  where  through  1640,  G,  S,  E,  R2;  wherethrough  Hu2,  N. 

Dowden:  The  stage  conceits  in  this  sonnet  are  paralleled  in  Constable, 
Diana  (1594).  S.  5: 

Thine  eye,  the  glass  where  I  behold  my  heart, 
Mine  eye,  the  window  through  the  which  thine  eye 
May  see  my  heart,  and  there  thyself  espy 
In  bloody  colours  how  thou  painted  art. 

Cf.  also  Watson,  The  Tears  of  Fancy  (i593)»  S.  45~46: 

My  mistress  seeing  her  fair  counterfeit 

So  sweetly  framed  in  my  bleeding  breast  .  .  . 

But  it  so  fast  was  fixed  to  my  heart,  etc. 

Cf.  L.  L.  L.,  V,  ii,  848:  "  Behold  the  window  of  my  heart,  mine  eye." 

Isaac  [also  notes  Daniel,  Delia,  S.  7,  "I  figured  on  the  table  of  my  heart"; 
Surrey,  "I  within  my  woful  breast  her  picture  paint  and  grave";  and  a  similar 


70  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xxiv 

passage  in  Tasso;  with  the  comment,  "  The  idea  was  therefore  a  current  one." 
(Jahrb.,  17:  171-72.)]  Lee:  Ronsard's  Ode  (livre  4,  No.  20)  consists  of  a  like 
dialogue  between  the  heart  and  the  eye.  The  conceit  is  traceable  to  Petrarch, 
whose  Sonnet  55  or  63  ("Occhi,  piangete,  accompagnate  il  core")  is  a  dialogue 
between  the  poet  and  his  eyes,  while  his  Sonnet  99  or  117  is  a  companion 
dialogue  between  the  poet  and  his  heart.  Cf.  Watson's  Tears  of  Fancy,  19-20 
["  My  heart  imposed  this  penance  on  mine  eyes,"  and  "  My  heart  accused  mine 
eyes  and  was  offended"];  Drayton's  Idea,  33  [on  the  Eyes  and  Heart  envying 
each  other];  Barnes,  P.  &  P.,  20  ["These  eyes  (thy  Beauty's  tenants)  pay  due 
tears  For  occupation  of  mine  heart,  thy  freehold"];  Constable,  Diana,  6th 
Decade,  S.  7  ["My  heart  mine  eye  accuseth  of  his  death"].  (Life,  p.  113.) 
Beechixg:  This  sonnet  has  the  air  of  being  a  half-humorous,  half-serious  par- 
ody of  a  common  type  of  sonnet. 

Wyndham:  The  conceit  begins  with  the  poet's  eye  as  a  painter,  who  has 
drawn  the  friend's  beauty  on  the  poet's  heart.  It  goes  on  to  a  play  on  the 
word  "frame";  the  body  is  the  physiological  frame  which  holds  the  heart  and 
other  organs,  but,  taking  the  other  sense  of  frame,  perspective,  line  4,  is  the 
best  of  a  painter's  art;  and,  line  5,  taking  the  etymological  derivation  of  per- 
spective with  a  reversion  to  the  conceit  that  the  friend's  beauty  is  engraved  on 
the  poet's  physical  heart,  to  see  the  skill  of  the  picture  you  must  look  through 
the  painter  =  the  poet's  eye.  The  poet's  bosom,  line  7,  being  the  shop  wherein 
the  picture  hangs,  has,  line  8,  borrowed  the  friend's  eyes:  making,  line  9,  a  good 
exchange  of  "eyes  for  eyes."  The  poet's  eyes,  line  10,  have  been  engaged  in 
drawing  the  friend's  shape;  the  friend's  eyes,  line  n,  meanwhile  have  been 
windows,  in  their  place,  to  the  poet's  breast,  through  which,  line  12,  the  sun 
delights  to  peep,  to  gaze  at  the  image  of  the  friend.  This  is  a  conceit  with  a 
vengeance,  but  it  does  work  out ! 

1.  steeld.  [The  question  of  the  text  here  is  not  a  little  complicated  by  a 
passage  in  Lucrece,  1444,  "To  find  a  face  where  all  distress  is  steld,"  rhyming 
with  "dwell'd,"  where  also  it  is  disputed  whether  we  should  read  "steel'd"  or 
"  stell'd."  The  reference  to  this  passage,  therefore,  by  Dowden  and  others,  in 
support  of  an  alteration  in  the  text  of  the  sonnet,  is  far  from  final.  Equally  un- 
convincing is  Wyndham's  defense  of  "steel'd"  in  the  Lucrece  passage  by  a 
reference  to  V.  &  A.,  376,  where  the  word  is  used  with  the  meaning  "hard- 
ened" (the  usual  meaning  in  Sh.).  There  is  no  clear  parallel  for  the  use  of  the 
word  with  the  meaning  "  engraved."  On  the  other  hand,  for  "stelled  "  we  have 
but  one  parallel,  Lear,  III,  vii,  61,  "Quench'd  the  stelled  fires,"  which  Theo- 
bald derived  from  stellatus,  but  which  Schmidt  and  Furness  render  "fixed" 
on  the  authority  of  the  passages  in  Lucrece  and  this  sonnet!  Thus  the  circle 
of  reasoning  is  complete.  As  to  the  rhyme  with  "  held,"  cf.  field:  held  in  S.  2; 
Butler  also  notes  such  apparently  imperfect  rhymes  as  noon:  sun  (S.  7), 
wrong:  young  (S.  19),  but  here  the  question  of  pronunciation  makes  analogy 
inconclusive.  —  Ed.]  Beeching:  Engraving  and  painting  are  different  arts, 
and  in  the  passage  in  Lucrece  .  .  .  the  word  is  again  used  of  painting.    Perhaps 


xxi v]  THE  SpNNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  71 

it  was  a  virtuoso's  word.  The  parallel  with  Lucrece  suggests  an  early  date  for 
the  sonnet,  which  its  style  confirms.  Porter:  The  "table  of  my  heart"  would 
call  for  the  tool  to  "steel"  rather  than  "stell"  it  there.  .  .  .  The  eye  could 
better,  like  a  painter  or  artist,  draw  "beauty's  form"  in  the  tablet  of  the  heart 
than  place  it  there  as  if  in  a  portfolio.  Line  10  confirms  this. 
2.  Malone:  Cf.  A.W.,  I,  i,  104-06: 

To  sit  and  draw 
His  arched  brows,  his  hawking  eye,  his  curls, 
In  our  heart's  table. 

Rolfe:  Cf.  K.J.,  II,  i,  503:  "  Drawn  in  the  flattering  table  of  her  eye." 

4.  perspective.  [Schmidt  cites  the  passage  under  the  common  Elizabethan 
meaning,  "  a  glass  cut  in  such  a  manner  as  to  produce  an  optical  deception, 
when  looked  through."  Cf.  R.  2,  II,  ii,  18,  etc.]  Dowden:  A  painter's  highest 
art  is  to  produce  the  illusion  of  distance,  one  thing  seeming  to  lie  behind  another. 
You  must  look  through  the  painter  (my  eye  or  myself)  to  see  your  picture,  the 
product  of  his  skill,  which  lies  within  him  (in  my  heart).  Tyler:  As  used  here, 
the  meaning  of  the  word  appears  to  be  "capability  of  being  looked  through." 
.  .  .  Yet  there  is  a  reference  also  to  the  ordinary  employment  of  the  word  in 
relation  to  pictorial  art.  Butler  [interprets  the  word  as  Schmidt  does,  and  is 
led  to  comment:]  That  Sh.  could  call  such  a  trick  as  this  "best  painter's  art" 
shows  that  in  matters  of  painting  he  was  profoundly  ignorant.  [Reference  to 
the  N.  E.  D.  will  show  that  the  modern  meaning  of  the  word  was  common 
also  in  Sh.'s  time;  cf.  especially,  from  Haydocke's  translation  of  Lomazzo 
(1598),  "A  painter  without  the  perspectives  was  like  a  doctor  without  gram- 
mar."—  Ed.] 

5.  Verity:  Literally:  to  see  the  picture  painted  in  my  heart  you  must  look 
through  my  eye,  the  eye  being  the  window  of  the  heart;  metaphorically:  to 
appreciate  properly  a  painter's  work  you  should  regard  it  with  the  eyes  of 
the  painter  himself.  [A  valuable  idea,  but  scarcely  pertinent  to  the  present 
sonnet.  —  Ed.] 

5-6.  you  .  .  .  your.  [The  only  instance  where  the  pronoun  of  address  to  the 
friend  is  apparently  changed  inside  a  sonnet;  see  note  on  S.  13.  —  Ed.]  Dow- 
den: May  not  you  and  your  be  used  indefinitely,  not  with  reference  to  the 
person  addressed,  but  to  what  is  of  common  application,  as  in  "  Your  marriage 
comes  by  destiny,"  A.W.,  I,  iii,  66.  [This  explanation  had  occurred  to  me 
independently,  and  I  have  tried  to  cherish  it;  but  to  do  so  is  made  difficult  by 
the  fact  that  the  only  instances  we  have  in  Sh.  of  the  indefinite  you  are  dis- 
tinctly colloquial  —  usually  on  rather  a  low  level,  even  at  that;  the  instance 
quoted  by  Dowden  is  from  a  doggerel  ballad.  Another  difficulty  is  that  "your 
image"  seems  to  have  distinct  reference  to  the  image  of  the  friend.  It  should 
be  added  that  in  104,  12-13  is  another  change  of  pronoun,  though  in  this  case 
not  with  reference  to  the  poet's  friend.  —  Ed.]  [My  friend  Professor  H.  D. 
Gray  remarks:]  I  think  we  are  fully  warranted  in  emending  the  text  to  read 
"thy  true  image."    Sh.'s  extreme  care  in  his  use  of  the  pronouns  of  address 


72  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xxv 

makes  it  much  less  likely  that  he  should  have  been  so  needlessly  careless  here 
than  that  some  copyist  made  the  natural  enough  mistake  of  writing  "your" 
for  "thy." 

ii.  windowes.  [For  the  use  of  this  word  for  the  eyes,  Verity  cites  L.  L.  L., 
V,  ii,  848;  V.  &  A.,  482;  R.  &  J.,  IV,  i,  100;  Cymb.,  II,  ii,  22;  and  similar 
passages  from  Dekker,  Sidney,  and  the  author  of  Diella.] 

14.  know  not  the  hart.  Tyler:  Intimating  possibly  a  suspicion  in  accord- 
ance with  the  last  lines  of  S.  22. 


25 
Let  those  who  are  in  fauor  with  their  stars, 
Of  publike  honour  and  proud  titles  bost, 
Whilst  I  whome  fortune  of  such  tryumph  bars 
Vnlookt  for  ioy  in  that  I  honour  most; 
Great  Princes  fauorites  their  faire  leaues  spread,         5 
But  as  the  Marygold  at  the  suns  eye, 
And  in  them-selues  their  pride  lies  buried, 
For  at  a  frowne  they  in  their  glory  die. 
The  painefull  warrier  famosed  for  worth,  9 

After  a  thousand  victories  once  foild, 
Is  from  the  booke  of  honour  rased  quite, 
And  all  the  rest  forgot  for  which  he  toild  : 
Then  happy  I  that  loue  and  am  beloued 
Where  I  may  not  remoue,  nor  be  remoued. 

4.  Vnlookt  for]   Unlook'd  on  Sta  conj.;   Unhonour'd  Sta  conj.,  But. 

9-1 1.  famosed  for  worth  .  .  .  rased  quite]  for  worth  famosed  .  .  .  quite  rased 
Stee  conj.  worth  .  .  .  quite]  worth  .  .  .  forthTh  conj.,  Kly,  Wh1,  Co3;  might  .  .  . 
quite  C;  fight .  .  .  quite  Th  conj.,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co1'2,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl, 
Hal,  Cam,  Do,  R,  Wh2,  Ox,  etc. 

1-4.  Massey:  Sh.  tells  us  indirectly  that  his  young  friend  is  not  in  favour 
.  .  .  with  Fortune,  nor  the  recipient  of  public  honours,  (p.  no.)  Butler:  [The 
sonnet  expresses  joy]  that  Sh.,  and  apparently  Mr.  W.  H.  as  well,  do  not  move 
in  an  exalted  sphere.  Tyler:  Cf.  Sonnets  29,  36,  in. 

4.  C.  A.  Brown:  This  is  evidence  that  the  noble  youth  had  sought  an  ac- 
quaintance with  Sh.,  and  proffered  his  friendship,  (p.  61.)  Massey:  The 
young  earl  first  sought  out  the  poet,  and  conferred  on  him  an  unexpected 
honour:  a  joy  "unlooked  for."   (p.  60.)  Wyndham:  Not  distinguished  as  a  fa- 


xxv]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  73 

vourite  was  said  to  be  "distinguished"  by  a  look  or  word  from  his  sovereign. 
Beeching:  Probably  an  adverbial  usage  [of  unlook'd],  meaning:  contrary  to 
general  usage,  "most  people  joy  in  being  honoured,  I  in  honouring."  Butler: 
Bearing  in  mind  the  carelessness  with  which  this  sonnet  was  printed  in  1.  9, 
and  Sh.'s  great  love  of  antithesis,  I  have  ventured  to  adopt  Staunton's  bold 
conjecture  ["unhonour'd"].  Horace  Davis:  "  Unlookt  for  "= inconspicuous. 
5-12.  Malone:  Cf.  H.  8,  III,  ii,  352-58: 

This  is  the  state  of  man:  to-day  he  puts  forth 
The  tender  leaves  of  hopes;  to-morrow  blossoms, 
The  third  day  comes  a  frost,  a  killing  frost,  etc. 

Wyndham:  If,  as  to  me  seems  probable,  the  earlier  sonnets  were  written  in 
J599>  no  nnes  could  have  been  penned  more  apposite  than  [these]  to  the  fall 
and  disgrace  of  Essex  after  his  military  failure  in  Ireland. 

6.  Marygold.  Dowden:  The  garden  marigold  or  Ruddes  (calendula  officin- 
alis) .  .  .  turns  its  flowers  to  the  sun,  and  follows  his  guidance  in  their  opening 
and  shutting.  The  old  name  is  goldes;  it  was  the  heliotrope,  solsequium,  or 
turnesol  of  our  forefathers.  (Condensed  from  Ellacombe's  Plant  Lore  of  Sh.) 
Rolfe:  Cf.  Wither: 

When  with  a  serious  musing  I  behold 
The  grateful  and  obsequious  marigold, 
.    How  duly  every  morning  she  displays 

Her  open  breast  when  Phoebus  spreads  his  rays;  .  .  . 
How  when  he  down  declines  she  droops  and  mourns,  etc. 

9.  worth.  Malone:  The  emendation  [fight]  was  suggested  by  Mr.  Theobald, 
who  likewise  proposed,  if  "worth"  was  retained,  to  read  "razed  forth." 
Steevens,  [in  proposing  his  cacophonous  emendation,  observed  urbanely:] 
This  stanza  is  not  worth  the  labour  that  has  been  bestowed  on  it.  Collier  [pre- 
ferred the  reading  worth  .  .  .  forth,  though  he  did  not  care  to]  disturb  the  text 
as  it  has  stood  for  a  century.  [Massey  and  Ingleby  express  the  same  prefer- 
ence, the  latter  observing,  "  Forth  is  precisely  our  modern  out,"  and,  for  worth  = 
virtus,  citing  L.  L.  L.,  I,  i,  173:  "the  worth  of  many  a  knight."  {The  Soule 
Arayed,  p.  6.)]  B.  Nicholson:  I  believe  that  Sh.,  led  partly  by  alliteration,  but 
chiefly  by  the  natural  sequence  of  such  a  word  after  "warrior  "  and  before  line 
10,  first  wrote  "  fight,"  but  afterwards,  seeing  that  "rased  forth  "  was  more  em- 
phatic than  "rased  quite,"  altered  "fight"  to  "worth,"  but  (he  or  his  copier) 
omitted  to  change  the  "quite"  to  "forth."    (N.  &  Q.,  7th  s.,  5:  62.) 

11.  Malone:  Cf.  R.  2,  II,  iii,  75:  "To  raze  one  title  of  your  honour  out." 

13-14.  Beeching:  This  final  couplet  points  emphatically  the  general  im- 
pression given  by  the  sonnet  that  Sh.'s  friend  was  not  himself  a  "  great  prince's 
favourite." 

14.  remove.  Dowden,  [in  one  of  the  most  painful  of  his  efforts  to  find  links 
between  the  successive  sonnets  as  they  stand,  finds  here  an  anticipation  of  the 
journey  of  S.  26:  Sh.]  rejoices  to  think  that  at  least  in  one  place  he  has  a  fixed 


74  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xxvi 

abode.    [For  the  punctuation,  see  P.  Simpson's  note  on  12,  14.   This  line,  he 
remarks,  is]  similar  in  rhythm  and  equally  spoilt  by  modern  editors,   (p.  24.) 

[Von  Mauntz,  not  finding  in  this  sonnet  anything  applicable  to  a  particular 
person,  believes  that  it  has  for  its  subject  the  poet's  art  or  genius.] 


26 

Lord  of  my  loue,  to  whome  in  vassalage 

Thy  merrit  hath  my  dutie  strongly  knit; 

To  thee  I  send  this  written  ambassage 

To  witnesse  duty,  not  to  shew  my  wit. 

Duty  so  great,  which  wit  so  poore  as  mine  5 

May  make  seeme  bare,  in  wanting  words  to  shew  it; 

But  that  I  hope  some  good  conceipt  of  thine 

In  thy  soules  thought  (all  naked)  will  bestow  it : 

Til  whatsoeuer  star  that  guides  my  mouing,  9 

Points  on  me  gratiously  with  faire  aspect, 

And  puts  apparrell  on  my  tottered  louing, 

To  show  me  worthy  of  their  sweet  respect, 

Then  may  I  dare  to  boast  how  I  doe  loue  thee, 

Til  then,  not  show  my  head  where  thou  maist  proue  me 

3.  ambassage]  embassage  G2,  S2,  E,  C,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta, 
CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Wh,  Hal,  R,  Her. 
5.  which]  with  S1. 

8.  thy]  my  S,  E. 

9.  my]  by  Kly  [error?]. 

11.  tottered]  tattered  S,  etc.  (except  Bull,  Wa). 

12.  their]  thy  C,  M,  etc. 

13.  dare]  dear  S1. 

*  Capell  [compared  the  first  quatrain  of  this  sonnet  with  the  phrasing  of  the 
Dedication  to  Lucrece.]  Boswell:  This  note,  I  imagine,  suggested  to  Dr. 
Drake  his  theory  that  the  Sonnets  were  addressed  to  Lord  Southampton. 
Drake  [at  any  rate  noted  the  resemblance  as  proof  of  his  theory:]  In  the  first 
place,  it  may  be  observed  that  in  his  prose,  as  well  as  in  his  verse,  our  author 
uses  the  same  amatory  language;  .  .  .  while  the  residue  tells  us,  in  exact  con- 
formity with  the  prose  address,  his  high  sense  of  His  Lordship's  merit  and 
his  own  unworthiness.  (Sh.  &  his  Times,  2:63-64.)  [The  Dedication  is  as 
follows:] 


xxvi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  75 

"To  the  Right  Honourable,  Henry  Wriothesley,  Earle  of  Southampton,  and 
Baron  of  Titchfield.  The  love  I  dedicate  to  your  Lordship  is  without  end: 
wherof  this  Pamphlet  without  beginning  is  but  a  superfluous  Moity.  The 
warrant  I  have  of  your  Honourable  disposition,  not  the  worth  of  my  untutord 
Lines  makes  it  assured  of  acceptance.  What  I  have  done  is  yours,  what  I  have 
to  doe  is  yours,  being  part  in  all  I  have,  devoted  yours.  Were  my  worth 
greater,  my  duety  would  shew  greater,  meane  time,  as  it  is,  it  is  bound  to  your 
Lordship;  To  whom  I  wish  long  life  still  lengthned  with  all  happinesse. 

"Your  Lordships  in  all  duety.      William  Shakespeare." 

Knight:  A  dedication,  accompanying  some  new  production  of  the  mighty 
dramatist,  in  accordance  with  his  declaration,  "  What  I  have  done  is  yours, 
what  I  have  to  do  is  yours."  .  .  .  The  sonnet  which  precedes  this  has  also  the 
marked  character  of  the  same  respectful  affection,  and,  like  the  26th,  in  all 
probability  accompanied  some  offering  of  friendship.  {Illustration,  p.  470.) 
Delius:  A  dedication  sonnet  to  one  of  higher  rank,  with  whom  the  poet  speaks 
in  a  wholly  different  tone  —  although  in  one  as  affectionate  as  respectful 
—  from  that  of  the  supposed  exhortations  to  marriage.  (Jahzb.,  1 :  41.)  Massey: 
This  was  written  and  sent  in  MS.  to  the  friend  addressed,  before  the  writer  had 
published  anything,  that  is,  before  the  year  1593.  .  .  .  The  dedication  to  the 
V.  &  A.  is  in  part  fulfilment  of  the  intentions  expressed  [here.]  In  fact  we  see 
the  sonnet  was  as  much  a  private  dedication  of  the  poet's  first  poem,  as  this 
epistle  was  afterwards  the  public  one.  (pp.  36,  48.)  Isaac  [finds  the  sonnet 
very  different  in  tone  from  the  Dedication  of  Lucrece:]  Nothing  could  show 
more  clearly  the  difference  between  the  language  that  one  uses  to  a  noble  patron 
and  that  to  a  friend,  than  a  comparison  of  these  two  dedications.  As  cere- 
monially, constrainedly,  in  as  utter  submissiveness,  as  in  the  Dedication  to 
Lucrece,  one  addressed  his  patron  in  that  age;  as  intimately,  with  such  self- 
abandon,  often  as  finely,  as  in  S.  26,  one  addressed  a  friend  in  those  days  — 
and  in  every  age.  (Jahrb.,  19:  242.)  Lord  Campbell  [refers  to  the  sonnet  as] 
a  love-letter,  in  the  language  of  a  vassal  doing  homage  to  his  liege-lord.  (Sh.'s 
Legal  Acquirements,  p.  101.)  Tyler:  Drake's  argument  [from  the  resemblance 
to  the  Dedication]  that  it  is  Lord  Southampton  who  is  here  addressed  also,  is 
certainly  not  conclusive.  We  have,  however,  obviously  a  colouring  of  plausibil- 
ity given  to  the  assertion  that  Mr.  W.  H.  was  a  person  of  somewhat  similarly 
high  station.  Sarrazix:  It  is  scarcely  too  bold  to  assume  that  this  poem  accom- 
panied the  MS.  of  Lucrece,  and  was  therefore  composed  about  the  spring  of 
1594.  (Sh.'s  Lehrjahre,  p.  170.)  Archer:  [The  resemblance  proves  nothing 
but]  that  even  in  the  mind  of  Sh.  similar  situations  begot  similar  expressions. 
(Fort.  Rev.,  n.s.  62:  825.)  Lee:  A  gorgeous  rendering  of  [the  Dedication, 
addressed  to  Southampton.]  .  .  .  There  is  little  doubt  that  this  sonnet  was 
parodied  by  Sir  John  Davies  in  the  9th  and  last  of  his  "gulling"  sonnets,  in 
which  he  ridicules  the  notion  that  a  man  of  wit  should  put  his  wit  in  vassalage 
to  any  one. 

To  love  my  lord  I  do  knight's  service  owe, 

And  therefore  now  he  hath  my  wit  in  ward;  [etc.] 

(Life,  pp.  127,  128  n.) 


76  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xxvi 

Beeching:  [This]  is  possible,  though,  considering  the  excesses  in  this  respect 
of  Zepheria,  to  which  Davies  refers  by  name,  it  is  uncertain.  [He  goes  on  to 
show  that  the  date  of  Davies's  sonnets  is  uncertain,  and  therefore,  even  if  the 
resemblance  is  significant,  we  are  not  helped  in  the  problem  of  dating  Sh.'s.] 
(Intro.,  p.  xxvii  n.) 

Walsh:  [Cf.  one  of  Spenser's  dedicatory  sonnets  prefixed  to  the  F.  Q., 
addressed  to  Lord  Grey  of  Wilton: 

Most  noble  lord,  the  pillar  of  my  life, 

And  patron  of  my  Muse's  pupillage, 

Through  whose  large  bounty,  poured  on  me  rife, 

In  the  first  season  of  my  feeble  age, 

I  now  do  live,  bound  yours  by  vassalage;  etc.] 

...  It  is  quite  possible  that  this  sonnet  was  a  private  dedication  written  in  the 
presentation  copy  [of  Lucrece]  sent  to  Southampton.  .  .  .  For  sake  of  com- 
parison it  is  noteworthy  that  Spenser's  dedicatory  sonnet  to  the  Countess  of 
Pembroke,  among  those  prefixed  to  his  F.  Q.y  was  little  else  than  a  poetical 
version  of  his  prose  dedication  to  her  of  his  Ruins  of  Time. 

C.  A.  Brown  [made  this  sonnet  the  "envoy"  to  what  he  called  the  "first 
poem"  of  the  series,  i.e.,  1-26.  The  same  conjecture  is  proposed  by  Dowden, 
Tyler,  Acheson  (Sh.  &  the  Rival  Poet,  p.  31),  and  T.  L.  M.  Douse,  who  writes 
as  follows:]  This  sonnet  was  sent  as  an  envoi,  or  covering  note,  with  1-25,  to  the 
addressee,  who  had  evidently  laid  on  the  poet  a  charge  .  .  .  that  he  would  pro- 
duce a  poem  or  poems  on  a  given  subject.  This  charge  the  poet  has  taken  up 
and  executed,  and  so  fulfilled  a  thrice-named  duty.  ...  [It  is  obvious]  that  the 
addressee  was  a  man  of  sufficient  station  and  authority  to  secure  the  execution 
of  his  wishes;  also  that  Sh.  was  but  slightly  acquainted  with  him,  although  he 
hopes  to  be  on  friendly  terms  some  day;  also  that  Sonnets  1-25  were  pure 
poetry,  so  that  the  poet  fears  they  may  be  taken  as  a  mere  exercise  of  his  clever- 
ness. (N.  &  Q.,  10th  s.,  2:  133.)  [On  the  other  hand,  Wyndham  treats  the 
sonnet  as  "a  formal  address"  opening  the  sequence  26-32  (Intro.,  p.  ex); 
Butler  is  disposed  to  think  it  accompanied  "the  six  next  following  sonnets"; 
and  Beeching  makes  it  the  opening  sonnet  of  its  group,  called  "  Thoughts  in 
Absence."] 

2.  Steevens:  Cf.  Macb.,  Ill,  i,  15-18: 

Let  your  Highness 
Command  upon  me;  to  the  which  my  duties 
Are  with  a  most  indissoluble  tie 
For  ever  knit. 

4.  wit.  Schmidt  [does  not  cite  the  present  passage;  but  it  falls  under  his 
definition:]  imaginative  and  inventive  faculty. 

7.  conceipt.  [See  note  on  15,  9;  and  note  how  the  spelling  here  preserves  the 
relationship  of  the  word  to  "concept."  —  Ed.] 

8.  all  naked.  Dowden:  My  duty,  even  naked  as  it  is.  bestow.   Schmidt: 


xxvi]  THE   SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  77 

Lodge.   Tyler:  [The  word]  here  seems  to  mean  not  merely  "lodge,"  but  also 
"equip"  and  "clothe." 

9.  whatsoever  .  .  .  that.  Abbott  [explains  this  construction  as  an  ellipsis  of 
"it  be."  (§286).]  moving.  Schmidt:  Living.  Tyler:  The  poet,  it  would  ap- 
pear, in  accordance  with  following  sonnets,  is  about  to  commence  a  journey. 
Beeching:  There  need  be  no  reference  in  this  word  to  any  journey,  since  it  is 
a  general  expression  for  life,  as  in  the  phrase  "to  live,  and  move,  and  have  our 
being;"  but  the  word  is  common  in  Sh.  of  the  "motion"  of  heavenly  bodies, 
and  in  one  or  two  places  it  is  used  of  the  movements  of  men  under  their  influ- 
ence. Thus  .  .  .  A. W.,  II,  i,  56:  "Eat,  speak,  and  move  under  the  influence 
of  the  most  received  star."  So  that  "moving"  here  may  imply  journeying. 
In  the  former  case  the  sonnet  may  be  taken  as  envoy  to  what  precedes,  in  the 
latter  as  proem  to  what  follows. 

11.  Acheson  [finds  here  a  reference  to  the  grant  of  arms  received  by  Sh.  on 
application  to  the  College  of  Heralds  in  1596.  (Sh.  &  the  Rival  Poet,  p.  119.)] 
tottered.  See  note  on  2,  4. 

12.  their.  Malone:  For  the  correction  [to  "thy"]  I  am  answerable.  The 
same  mistake  has  several  times  happened  in  these  sonnets,  owing  probably  to 
abbreviations  having  been  formerly  used  for  the  words  "their"  and  "thy,"  so 
nearly  resembling  each  other  as  not  to  be  easily  distinguished.  I  have  observed 
the  same  error  in  some  of  the  old  English  plays.  [The  other  instances  usually 
corrected  are  in  27,  10;  35,  8;  37,  7;  43,  11;  45,  12;  46,  3,  8,  13,  14;  69,  5;  70,  6; 
128,  11,  14.  —  Ed.]  Wyndham,  [always  disposed  to  save  the  Q  reading  if  he 
can,  observes:]  It  is  possible  that  "their"  may  be  the  right  reading,  referring 
to  the  stars,  suggested  by  "whatsoever  star"  in  line  9;  [and  Miss  Porter,  who 
defends  the  Q  to  the  death  —  of  reason,  believes  that  "their"  refers  to  "the 
sweet  respect  of  the  star  and  thy  soules  thought."] 

13-14.  Dowden:  The  rhyme  has  an  echo  of  Daniel's  Delia,  S.  10: 

Once  let  her  know!  sh'  hath  done  enough  to  prove  me, 
And  let  her  pity,  if  she  cannot  love  me. 

[Von  Mauntz  compares  with  this  sonnet  Ovid's  Ex  Ponlo,  IV,  i,  19-21: 

Idque  sinas  oro,  nee  fastidita  repellas 

Verba  nee  officio  crimen  inesse  putes; 
Et  levis  haec  meritis  referatur  gratia  tantis.] 


78  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE         [xxvn 

27 

Weary  with  toyle,  I  hast  me  to  my  bed, 
The  deare  repose  for  lims  with  trauaill  tired, 
But  then  begins  a  iourny  in  my  head 
To  worke  my  mind,  when  boddies  work's  expired. 
For  then  my  thoughts  (from  far  where  I  abide)  5 

Intend  a  zelous  pilgrimage  to  thee; 
And  keepe  my  drooping  eye-lids  open  wide, 
Looking  on  darknes  which  the  blind  doe  see. 
Saue  that  my  soules  imaginary  sight  9 

Presents  their  shaddoe  to  my  sightles  view, 
Which  like  a  iewell  (hunge  in  gastly  night) 
Makes  blacke  night  beautious,  and  her  old  face  new. 
Loe  thus  by  day  my  lims,  by  night  my  mind, 
For  thee,  and  for  my  selfe,  noe  quiet  finde. 

2.  trauaill]  travel  G2,  S2,  etc.  (except  But). 

3.  head]  head,  G2,  S2,  etc.  (except  Do,  Ox). 
5.  from  far]  far  from  G,  S,  E,  M  conj. 

10.  their]  thy  C,  M,  etc. 

Massey:  [This  and  the  following  sonnet  pertain  to  the  journey  and  absence 
abroad,  spoken  of  in  44-45,  50,  61.  (p.  91.)]  Isaac  [puts  the  pair  in  a  group  of 
Reiselieder  with  43-48,  50-51,  61,  97-99,  113-114,  and  believes  they  are  con- 
nected with  a  hypothetical  journey  to  Italy.  (Jahrb.,  19:  209.)]  [For  Fleay's 
notion  that  all  these  "absence"  or  "travel"  sonnets  refer  not  to  any  actual 
journey,  but  to  the  separation  between  Southampton  and  Sh.  caused  by  the 
supposed  unfaithfulness  of  the  latter,  see  Macm.  Mag.,  31:  435.] 

[For  the  theme  of  the  two  sonnets  Massey  compares  Sidney,  A.  &  S.,  89: 

Now  that  of  absence  the  most  irksome  night 

With  darkest  shade  doth  overcome  my  day, 

Since  Stella's  eyes,  wont  to  give  me  my  day, 

Leaving  my  hemisphere,  leave  me  in  night;  etc.  (p.  77.) 

And  Isaac  notes  also  Sidney's  88  ("Out!  traitor  Absence!"),  98  ("  Ah,  bed! 
.  .-.  I  am  constrained,  spurred  with  Love's  spur,  ...  to  turn  and  toss  in  thee!"), 
and  99  ("When  far-spent  night  persuades  each  mortal  eye");  Daniel,  S.  49 
(the  well-known  "Care-charmer  Sleep");  two  sonnets  of  Surrey's  (2  and  10, 
Nott  ed.);  and  various  poems  of  Petrarch's  (Pt.  1,  Canzone  4;  S.  161,  168,  178). 


xxvn]         THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  79 

(Jahrb.,  17:  191.)]  Lee:  Sh.  in  many  beautiful  sonnets  describes  .  .  .  night  and 
sleep  and  their  influence  on  amorous  emotion.  Such  topics  are  common  themes 
of  the  poetry  of  the  Renaissance,  and  they  figure  in  Sh.'s  pages  clad  in  the 
identical  livery  that  clothed  them  in  the  sonnets  of  Petrarch,  Ronsard,  de  Baif, 
and  Desportes,  or  of  English  disciples  of  the  Italian  and  French  masters.  .  .  . 
For  descriptions  of  night  and  sleep  see  especially  Ronsard 's  Amours  (livre  1, 
186;  livre  2,  22;  Odes,  livre  4,  No.  4,  and  his  Odes  Retranchees,  in  CEuvres,  ed. 
Blanchemain,  2:  392-4).  Cf.  Barnes,  P.  &  P.,  S.  83  ["Dark  night!  black  image 
of  my  foul  despair!"]    (Life,  pp.  111-12.) 

3.  head.  Dowden:  Modern  editors  put  a  comma  after  "head."  But  is  not 
the  construction  "a  journey  in  my  head  begins  to  work  my  mind"? 

3-4.  [An  anonymous  writer  in  Blackwood's,  139:  335,  compares  Dante, 
Purgatorio,  ii,  11-12: 

Like  men  who,  musing  on  their  road,  in  thought 
Journey,  while  motionless  the  body  stands.] 

6.  Intend.  Schmidt:   Direct.    Dowden:   Used  frequently  of  travel.    Cf. 
M.  W.  W.,  II,  i,  188:  "If  he  should  intend  this  voyage  toward  my  wife." 
7-8.  Massey:  [Cf.  Sidney,  A.  &  S.,  99: 

With  windows  ope  then  [i.e.,  at  night]  most  my  mind  doth  lie, 
Viewing  the  shape  of  darkness  and  delight.] 

(p.  147.) 

9.  imaginary.  Rolfe:  Imaginative.  Cf.  K.J.,  IV,  ii,  265:  "Foul  imaginary 
eyes." 

10.  their.  [See  note  on  26,  12.  Again  Wyndham  thinks  it  possible,  and  Miss 
Porter  certain,  that  the  word  should  *be  kept,  referring  to  "my  thoughts."] 
shaddoe.  Schmidt:  Image  produced  by  the  imagination.  [Cf.  37,  10,  and 
notes.  —  Ed.] 

11-12.  Malone:  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  I,  v,  47-48: 

Her  beauty  hangs  upon  the  cheek  of  night 
Like  a  rich  jewel  in  an  Ethiop's  ear 

[the  reading  of  the  2d  Folio]. 

12.  For  the  rhythm,  see  note  on  5,  7. 

13-14.  Dowden:  By  day  my  limbs  find  no  quiet  for  myself,  i.e.,  on  account 
of  business  of  my  own;  by  night  my  mind  finds  no  quiet  for  thee,  i.e.,  on  your 
account,  thinking  of  you.  Rolfe:  For  the  interlaced  or  "chiastic"  construc- 
tion .  .  .  cf.  W.T.,  III,  ii,  164:  "Though  I  with  death  and  with  reward  did 
threaten  and  encourage  him";  and  S.  75,  11-12. 

Brandl  [thinks  that  this  sonnet  and  28  were  addressed  to  a  woman,  (p.  x.)]. 


8o  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE        [xxvm 

28 

How  can  I  then  returne  in  happy  plight 

That  am  debard  the  benifit  of  rest  ? 

When  daies  oppression  is  not  eazd  by  night, 

But  day  by  night  and  night  by  day  oprest. 

And  each  (though  enimes  to  ethers  raigne)  5 

Doe  in  consent  shake  hands  to  torture  me, 

The  one  by  toyle,  the  other  to  complaine 

How  far  I  toyle,  still  farther  off  from  thee. 
'  •  I  tell  the  Day  to  please  him  thou  art  bright,  9 

And  do'st  him  grace  when  clouds  doe  blot  the  heauen: 

So  flatter  I  the  swart  complexiond  night, 

When  sparkling  stars  twire  not  thou  guil'st  th'  eauen. 
But  day  doth  daily  draw  my  sorrowes  longer, 
And  night  doth  nightly  make  greefes  length  seeme  stronger 

5.  ethers]  others  1640,  L,  G,  S,  E;  either's  M,  etc. 

8.  farther]  further  Hu,  Ox. 

9.  to  please  him]  Between  commas  G2,  S,  E,  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI, 
Kly,  Do,  Ty,  But,  Be. 

12.  twire]  twire,  1640;  tweer  G,  S,  E;  twirl  M  conj.;  twink  Stee  conj.;  tire 
Massey  conj.        not]  out,  G,  S,  E.        guil'st]  guild' st  G2,  S1;  gild'st  S2,  etc. 

13-14.  longer  . . .  length  seeme  stronger]  stronger  . . .  length  seem  longer  anon, 
conj.  (in  M);  longer  .  .  .  strength  seem  stronger  C,  Kt,  Del,  Dy,  Co2'3),  Sta,  Gl, 
Kly,  Wh,  Cam,  Hu2,  R,  But,  Ox,  Her,  Be,  Bull,  Wa. 

1-2.  Wyndham:  The  marked  query  in  these  two  lines  suggests  that  they 
are  a  rejoinder  to  some  kindly  expression  of  good  wishes  for  the  poet's  happy 
return  in  a  letter  from  the  friend. 

9.  [Despite  the  rather  important  difference  of  editorial  practice  in  the  punctu- 
ation of  this  line,  determining  whether  "to  please  him"  is  the  reason  why  "I 
tell  the  day"  or  why  "thou  art  bright,"  the  matter  has  escaped  discussion. 
The  weight  of  opinion  is  shown  by  the  textual  notes  to  favor  the  former,  — 
reading  "to  please  him"  between  commas,  —  doubtless  for  the  reason  that 
the  context  suggests  that  the  phrase  is  parallel  with  "flatter":  I  console  the 
day,  when  it  is  cloudy,  as  I  flatter  the  night  when  it  is  starless.  It  is  possible, 
however,  to  read  the  two  sentences  as  parallel,  and  still  suppose  that  "thou 
art  bright"  with  the  friendly  purpose  of  pleasing  the  day.  —  Ed.] 


xxvm]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  81 

12.  Massey:  Cf.  M.  N.  D.t  III,  ii,  187-88: 

Fair  Helena,  that  more  engilds  the  night 

Than  all  yon  fiery  oes  and  eyes  of  light.  (p.  88.) 

twire.  Steevens  [following  Tyrwhitt's  interpretation  of  the  word  in  Chau- 
cer's version  of  Boethius,  thought  that  it  might  mean  "sing,"  —  if  not 
a  corruption  of  "twink."]  Boswell:  In  Jonson's  Sad  Shepherd  this  word 
occurs:  "Which  maids  will  twire  at  'tween  their  fingers  thus."  Mr.  Gifford, 
in  a  note  on  that  passage  (Works,  vi,  280),  produces  several  instances  of  the 
word  in  our  ancient  writers,  and  explains  the  expression  in  the  text  thus: 
"When  the  stars  do  not  gleam  or  appear  at  intervals."  To  twire  seems  to  have 
much  the  same  significance  as  to  peep.  [This  explanation  has  been  generally 
accepted,  except  by  Massey,  who  reverted  to  the  Chaucerian  meaning, 
explaining,  however,  that  the  word  "is  employed  for  visible  motion  as  well  as 


ed  1 


believed  that  the  image  was  suggested  to  Sh.  by  Sidney's  conceit  (A.  &  S.,  38) 
that  his  Stella  "not  only  shines  but  sings."    (p.  148.)] 

13-14.  M alone:  [*Capell]  proposes  to  make  the  two  concluding  words  of 
this  couplet  to  change  places.  But  I  believe  the  old  copy  to  be  right.  "Stronger  " 
cannot  well  apply  to  drawn  out  or  protracted  sorrow.  [In  his  MS.  corrections, 
it  will  be  noticed,  Capell  made  the  alternative  emendation  which  has  been 
followed  by  many  editors.  —  Ed.]  Delius,  [supporting  this  emendation 
("strength"  for  "length"),  calls  attention  to  2  H.  4,  II,  iii,  55: 

Then  join  you  with  them,  like  a  rib  of  steel, 

To  make  strength  stronger.] 

Dowden:  [If  we  keep  the  Q  text,  it  means:  The  drawing-out  of  my  sorrows 
does  not  weaken  them,]  for  my  night-thoughts  come  to  make  my  sorrows  as 
strong  as  before,  nay  stronger.  It  might  be  supposed  that  my  grief  if  long  were 
light,  but  this  is  not  so;  it  grows  in  length  indeed  each  day,  but  also  to  this 
length  is  added  strength  each  night.  [This  is  followed  by  Wyxdham,  with  more 
assurance.  Beeching  favors  the  emendation,  because]  it  is  best  to  continue 
the  division  of  the  poet's  woe  between  day  and  night  —  to  the  day  length  of 
journey,  to  the  night  strength  of  complaint.  [I  have  no  doubt  that  the  emen- 
dation is  justified,  if  any  is  justified  except  to  avoid  absolute  nonsense.  —  Ed.] 


82  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xxix 

29 

When  in  disgrace  with  Fortune  and  mens  eyes, 
I  all  alone  beweepe  my  out-cast  state, 
And  trouble  deafe  heauen  with  .my  bootlesse  cries, 
And  looke  vpon  my  selfe  and  curse  my  fate. 
Wishing  me  like  to  one  more  rich  in  hope,  5 

Featur'd  like  him,  like  him  with  friends  possest, 
Desiring  this  mans  art,  and  that  mans  skope, 
With  what  I  most  inioy  contented  least, 
Yet  in  these  thoughts  my  selfe  almost  despising,  ^        9 

Haplye  I  thinke  on  thee,  and  then  my  state, 
(Like  to  the  Larke  at  breake  of  daye  arising) 
From  sullen  earth  sings  himns  at  Heauens  gate", 
For  thy  sweet  loue  remembred  such  welth  brings, 

That  then  I  skorne  to  change  my  state  with  Kings. 

• 

9.  Yet]    Yea  Sta  conj. 

10-12.  state,  (Like  .  .  .  arising)  From  sullen  earth]  state,  Like  .  .  .  arising 
From  sullen  earth,  G2,  S2,  E,  B,  Hu,  Gl,  Dy2,  Cam,  Do,  R,  Wh2,  Ty,  Ox,  Her, 
Be,  N,  Bull;  state  —  Like  ...  arising  From  sullen  earth,  —  C;  state  {Like  .  .  . 
arising  From  sullen  earth)  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  Del,  Dy1,  Sta,  CI,  Wh1;  state — Like 
...arising  From  sullen  earth  —  Kly,  Hal;  state,  (Like  ...  arising)  From 
sullen  earth,  Wy;  state  Like  .  .  .  arising  From  sullen  earth,  But;  state,  Like  .  .  . 
arising,  From  sullen  earth  Wa, 

12.  earth]  earths  G1.         sings  himns]  to  sing  G2,  S2,  E. 

M alone:  These  nervous  and  animated  lines,  in  which  such  an  assemblage 
of  thoughts,  clothed  in  the  most  glowing  expressions,  is  compressed  into  the# 
narrow  compass  of  fourteen  lines,  might,  I  think,  have  saved  the  whole  of  this 
collection  from  the  general  and  indiscriminate  censure  thrown  out  against  them 
by  Mr.  Steevens. 

Massey:  [Cf.  with  this  and  S.  30  Sidney,  A.  &  S.,  18: 

With  what  sharp  checks  I  in  myself  am  shent, 

When  into  Reason's  audit  I  do  go; 

And  by  just  counts;  myself  a  bankrupt  know 

Of  all  those  goods  which  heaven  to  me  hath  lent;  (etc.) 


• 


and  ibid..  64: 


Let  Fortune  lay  on  me  her  wprst  disgrace! 

Let  folk  o'ercharged  with  brain  against  me  cry.         (p.  76-)] 


xxix]  THE   SONNETS   OF  SHAKESPEARE  83 

Tyler:  This  sonnet,  with  its  mention  of  Sh.'s  "outcast  state,"  etc.,  would 
be  very  suitable  to  the  supposition  that  he  tfas  on  a  provincial  tour  as  an  actor. 
Lee:  The  sonnets  in.which  [Sh.]  :  .  .  gives  expression  to  a  sense  of  melancholy, 
offer  at  times  a  convincing  illusion  of  autobiographic  confessions.  .  .  .  But  they 
may  be,  on  the  other  hand,  merely  literary  meditations.  .  .  .  Almost  every  note 
in  the  scale  of  sadness  or  self-reproach  is  sounded  from  time  to  time  in  Pe- 
trarch's sonnets.  Tasso  in  Scelta  delle  Rime,  1582,  pt.  2,  p.  26,  has  a  sonnet 
(beginning  "Vinca  fortuna  homai,  se  sotto  ii  peso")  which  adumbrates  Sh.'s 
Sonnets  29  and  66.  .  .  .  Drummond's  Sonnets  25  ("What  cruel  star  into  this 
world  was  brought")  and  32  ("If  crost  with  all  mishaps  be  my  poor  life")  are 
pitched  in  the  identical  key.  {Life,  p.  152.)  [This  is  an  example  of  the  sort  of 
comparative  criticism  of  the  Sonnets  which  has  repeatedly  vexed  the  souls  of 
those  who  cherish  great  admiration  for  the  writer's  learning.  The  source  of  the 
vexation  is,  iii  part  at  least,  the  implication  that  that  which  has  been  abun- 
dantly uttered  by  others  is  not  likely  to  be  uttered  anew  in  personal  sincerity. 
If  this  were  so,  what  should  true  lovers  and  honest  sufferers  do?  The  attitude 
of  Sir  Sidney  Lee  is,  from  one  standpoint,  a  wholesome  reaction  against  the 
sort  of  biographic  interpretation  represented  by  the  note  of  Tyler,  quoted 
above,  which  assumes  that  Sh.  could  not  have  written  this  sonnet  except  under 
the  stress  of  some  particular  situation.  But  it  is  a  long  way  from  this  extreme 
to  the  other,  —  the  inference  that  Sh.  was  not  voicing  his  own  disappointments 
because  the  Renaissance  poets  generally  had  chosen  the  sonnet  in  which  to 
voice  theirs.  The  fallacy  lurks  in  the  phrase  "literary  meditation";  is  a  literary 
meditation  a  mere  imitation?  —  Ed.] 

1.  Fortune.  [The  capital  initial  here  has  been  very  generally,  and  I  think 
wrongly,  omitted  by  modern  editors,,  doubtless  under  the  influence  of  the 
Malone  and  the  Cambridge  editions.  (Exceptions  are  the  texts  of  Wyndham, 
Butler,  Neilson,  and  a  few  others.)  Surely  the  importance  of  the  personifica- 
tion of  Fortune  in  Elizabethan  literature  raises  a  presumption  of  its  being 
found  here.  —  Ed.] 

•_  3.  [Abbott  scans  this  line  rather  sadly,  treating  "trouble"  as  an  instance  of 
the  contraction  of  dissyllables  in  /,  and  "heaven"  as  dissyllabic.  (§  465.)  It  is 
surely  preferable  to  read  "deaf  heav'n"  with  "hovering  accent."  —  Ed.] 

5-7.  Lamb  :  [Thus  could  Sh.]  in  the  plenitude  and  consciousness  of  his  own 
powers,  .  .  .  with  that  noble  modesty  which  we  can  neither  imitate  nor  appre- 
ciate, express  himself  ...  of  his  own  sense  of  his  own  defects.  (Essay  on  The 
Tragedies  of  Sh.) 

8.  Dowden:  The  preceding  line  makes  it  not  improbable  that  Sh.  is  here 
speaking  of  his  own  poems. 

10-12.  [The  various  editions,  while  exhibiting  great  diversity  of  detail  in 
the  punctuation  of  these  lines,  are  —  it  will  be  noticed  —  in  pretty  general 
agreement  in  removing  the  stop  after  "arising."  In  addition  to  Wyndham  and 
Walsh,  Percy  Simpson  holds  to  the  dubious  construction  of  the  Q,  and  main- 
tains that  editors  have  no  right  to  move  the  second  mark  of  parenthesis  three 


84  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xxx 

words  further  on.  "It  breaks  a  subtle  link  with  the  thought  of  the  opening 
lines  and  impoverishes  the  beauty  of  the  simile  to  detach  [the  poet's]  'state' 
from  the  'sullen  earth.' "  (p.  93.)  This  is  what  might  be  called  transcendental 
punctuation.  If  followed,  we  must  read,  in  effect,  "My  state  from  sullen  earth 
sings  hymns  at  heaven's  gate,"  which  suggests  a  use  of  at  like  that  in  the 
phrase  "shouted  at  him."  What  the  lark  does,  at  any  rate,  is  not  to  sing  from 
sullen  earth,  but  to  rise  from  it,  and  it  seems  safer  to  follow  the  maker  of  the 
simile  than  the  printer  of  the  parentheses.  —  Ed.] 
M alone:  Cf.  Cymb.,  II,  iii,  21-22: 

Hark!  hark!  the  lark  at  heaven's  gate  sings, 
And  Phoebus  gins  arise. 

.  .  .  Perhaps,  as  Mr.  Reed  has  observed,  Sh.  remembered  Lilly's  Campaspe 

(1584): 

None  but  the  lark  so  shrill  and  clear; 
Now  at  heaven's  gate  she  claps  her  wings. 


30 
When  to  the  Sessions  of  sweet  silent  thought, 
I  sommon  vp  remembrance  of  things  past, 
I  sigh  the  lacke  of  many  a  thing  I  sought, 
And  with  old  woes  new  waile  my  deare  times  waste: 
Then  can  I  drowne  an  eye  (vn-vs'd  to  flow)  5 

For  precious  friends  hid  in  deaths  dateles  night, 
And  weepe  a  fresh  loues  long  since  canceld  woe, 
And  mone  th'expence  of  many  a  vannisht  sight. 
Then  can  I  greeue  at  greeuances  fore-gon,  9 

And  heauily  from  woe  to  woe  tell  ore 
The  sad  account  of  fore-bemoned  mone, 
Which  I  new  pay,  as  if  not  payd  before. 

But  if  the  while  I  thinke  on  thee  (deare  friend) 
All  losses  are  restord,  and  sorrowes  end. 

4.  woes]  woes'  Kock  conj.  times]  time's  G2,  S,  E,  M,  Co,  etc.  (except 
Ox);  times'  A,  Kt,  Ox. 

8.  th'expence]  the  expence  C,  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Del,  CI,  GI,  Kly,  Cam,  Do,  R, 
Wh2,  Ty,  Ox,  But,  Her,  Be,  N. 

1.  Sessions.  [For  the  legal  metaphor,  Malone  compares]  Oth. ,  III,  iii, 
138-41: 


xxx]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  85 

Who  has  a  breast  so  pure 
But  some  uncleanly  apprehensions 
Keep  leets  and  law-days  and  in  sessions  sit 
With  meditations  lawful? 

4.  [Note  the  remarkably  spondaic  rhythm.  —  Ed.]  Palgrave:  Cf.  Kaivoh 
-iraXata  daicpvois  (jrivuv  ko.k6l.  [Apparently  a  misquotation,  as  Professor  W.  A. 
Oldfather  brings  to  my  attention,  of  a  passage  attributed  to  Euripides  (see 
Nauck,  Trag.  Graec.  Fragm.,  fragment  43).  — Ed.]  deare  times  waste.  Tyler: 
The  things  or  persons  devastated  or  destroyed  by  Time,  which  wer^  dear 
to  me.  [Rolfe  seems  to  favor  this  interpretation,  in  the  paraphrase,  "Those 
dear  to  me  now  gone."  I  cannot  think,  however,  that  "my  time's  waste" 
should  be  so  read.  Is  it  not  that  his  time  has  been  wasted,  in  a  sense,  in  seeking 
(line  3)  the  things  which  he  now  lacks, — that  all  his  life  has  been  wasted 
in  the  same  tragic  accumulation  of  what  are  now  "vanisht  sights"?  —  Ed.] 
E.  A.  Kock  [(Anglia,  31: 133)  would  take  "wail "  as  a  noun  and  "waste"  as 
a  verb,  paraphrasing:  "  And  spend  my  precious  moments  in  the  fresh  bewailing 
of  old  woes."] 

6.  dateles.  Schmidt:  Eternal.  Cf.  153,  6. 

8.  expence.  Schmidt:  Loss;  cf.  129, 1.  [So  Rolfe,  Beeching,  etc.]  Dowden: 
Does  not  "moan  the  expense"  mean  "pay  my  account  of  moans  for"?  Tyler: 
Moan  over  what  the  loss  of  "precious  friends"  cost  me  in  sorrow.  [As  appears 
from  my  note  on  "time's  waste,"  I  am  disposed  to  agree  with  Tyler's  note 
here,  only  with  the  emphasis  on  the  whole  weary  experience,  rather  than  the 
mere  final  loss.  —  Ed.]  sight.  Steevens:  Many  an  object  which,  being  gone 
hence,  is  no  more  seen.  M alone:  Sight  seems  to  be  here  used  for  "sigh,"  by 
the  same  license  which  Sh.  has  already  employed  in  his  Lucrece,  writing  "hild" 
instead  of  " held,"  "than"  instead  of  "then,"  etc.  .  .  .  The  substantive  "sigh" 
was  in  our  author's  time  pronounced  so  hard,  that  in  one  of  the  old  copies  of 
1  H.  4,  Q  1599,  we  have:  "And  with  a  rising  sight  he  wisheth  you  in  heaven." 
Delius:  Image  (Bild).  Beeching:  We  speak  of  friends  as  being  "lost  to 
(our)  sight."   Sh.  calls  each  of  them  a  "lost  sight." 

10.  Rolfe:  In  this  line  and  the  next,  note  the  lingering  sadness  of  the  long 
o's.  tell.  Schmidt:  Count.   Cf.  138,  12. 

13.  friend.  Massey  [notes  that  this  is  the  first  of  the  sonnets  to  use  this 
form  of  address,  which  he  holds  to  be  characteristic  of  lovers,  in  Elizabethan 
use,  —  a  stronger  term,  or  more  associated  with  love  between  the  sexes,  than 
the  "love"  of  22, 9,  etc.  In  support  he  cites  a  love-letter  written  by  Sir  George 
Hayward,  1550,  beginning  "My  dearest  friend";  a  lover  in  one  of  Dekker's 
plays,  apostrophizing  his  lady's  portrait  as  "thou  figure  of  my  friend";  Surrey, 
calling  his  lady  "my  friend";  Beatrice  of  Benedick,  "I  must  ne'er  love  that 
which  my  friend  hates";  Lucioof  Claudio,  "He  hath  got  his  friend  with  child"; 
Hermia  to  her  lover,  "Gentle  friend";  and  others.  On  the  other  hand,  in 
Sonnets  1-26,  clearly  addressed  by  a  man  to  one  of  the  same  sex,  the  title 
"love"  is  used  seven  times,  and  "friend"  not  at  all.   (p.  123.)] 


86  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xxxi 

3i 

Thy  bosome  is  indeared  with  all  hearts, 

Which  I  by  lacking  haue  supposed  dead, 

And  there  raignes  Loue  and  all  Loues  louing  parts, 

And  all  those  friends  which  I  thought  buried. 

How  many  a  holy  and  obsequious  teare  5 

Hath  deare  religious  loue  stolne  from  mine  eye, 

As  interest  of  the  dead,  which  now  appeare, 

But  things  remou'd  that  hidden  in  there  lie. 

Thou  art  the  graue  where  buried  loue  doth  Hue,  9 

Hung  with  the  tropheis  of  my  louers  gon, 

Who  all  their  parts  of  me  to  thee  did  giue, 

That  due  of  many,  now  is  thine  alone. 

Their  images  I  lou'd,  I  view  in  thee, 

And  thou  (all  they)  hast  all  the  all  of  me. 

6.  deare  religious]  Hyphened  by  Walker  conj.,  Sta,  Dy2,  Hu2. 
8.  there]  thee  G,  etc.  (except  Wy,  Wa). 
11.  giue,]  give;  S1,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Wh,  Hal, 
Cam,  Do,  R1,  Ty,  Wy,  But,  Bull,  Wa;  give:  Her,  Be. 
14.  all  the  all]  Hyphened  by  Sta. 

Simpson  [finds  in  the  theme  of  this  sonnet  a  presentation  of  the  Platonic 
view  of  love  as  lending  itself]  to  many  collateral  objects  without  being  false  to 
its  great  object.  It  is  a  higher  stage  when  all  collateral,  all  inferior  objects  are 
summed  up  in  the  main  object,  and  live  a  second  life  in  him.  (p.  34.)  (Cf.  note 
on  98,  11-12.)  So  Wyndham:]  The  mystical  confusion  with  and  in  the  friend 
of  all  that  is  beautiful  or  lovable  in  the  poet  and  others,  is  a  development  from 
the  Platonic  theory  of  the  Idea  of  Beauty:  the  eternal  type  of  which  all  beauti- 
ful things  on  earth  are  but  shadows.    (Intro.,  p.  cxviii.) 

1-4.  Massey:  Cf.  Sidney,  A.  &  S.,  1st  Song:  "Who  long  dead  beauty  with 
increase  reneweth?"  (p.  76.) 

5.  obsequious.  M alone:  Funereal;  cf.  Kami.,  I,  ii,  92: 

The  survivor  bound 
In  filial  obligation  for  some  term 
To  do  obsequious  sorrow. 

[So  Dowden,  Collier,  Rolfe,  Beeching,  etc.;  but  Tyler  renders  "dutiful." 
There  is  hardly  warrant  for  the  rendering  "funereal,"  either  in  the  Hamlet 


xxxi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  87 

passage  or  here;  though  a  special  tendency  in  the  word,  in  such  connections, 
is  doubtless  rightly  indicated  by  Schmidt  ("especially  zealous  with  respect  to 
what  is  due  to  the  deceased")  and  the  N.  E.D.  ("dutiful  in  performing  funeral 
obsequies").  —  Ed. J 

6.  religious.  Dowden:  Cf.  L.  C,  250:  "Religious  love  put  out  Religion's 
eye."  Schmidt:  Devoted  to  any  holy  obligation.  [But,  in  the  passages  in  ques- 
tion, "devoted"  without  the  modifying  words  is  a  better  rendering.  —  Ed.] 
[Walker,  hyphenating  the  word  with  deare,  explains,  "Making  a  religion  of 
its  affections."] 

7.  interest.  Schmidt:  Right,  claim.  [Cf.  74,  3,  where  Schmidt  renders  the 
word  "share,  participation."  The  uses,  however,  are  closely  related;  both 
being,  in  a  sense,  figurative  from  the  primary  meaning,  "the  relation  of  being 
objectively  concerned  in  something,  by  having  a  right  or  title  to,  a  claim  upon, 
or  a  share  in."    (N.  E.  D.)  Cf.  R.  3,  II,  ii,  47: 

Ah,  so  much  interest  have  I  in  thy  sorrow 
As  I  had  title  in  thy  noble  husband.  —  Ed.] 

8.  there.  M alone:  The  next  line  shows  clearly  that  [this  reading]  is  cor- 
rupt. Wyndham:  I  retain  the  Q  reading:  "there"  refers  back  to  "thy  bosom" 
(line  1);  "and  there"  (line  3).  Thus  "hidden  in  there"  =  hidden  in  thy  bosom. 
[Miss  Porter  makes  a  similar  painful  effort  to  keep  the  text.  It  need  hardly 
be  remarked  that  Sh.  would  have  written  "therein"  (as  frequently),  if  the 
meaning  had  been  that  suggested.  —  Ed.] 

9.  McClumpha:  Cf.  R.  &  /.,  II,  iii,  83: 

And  bad'st  me  bury  love. 

—  Not  in  a  grave.       (Jahrb.,  40:  189.) 

10.  Dowden:  Cf.  L.  C,  218:  "Lo,  all  these  trophies  of  affections  hot  .  .  . 
must  your  oblations  be." 

11.  parts  of  me.  Rolfe:  Shares  in  me,  claims  upon  me. 

11-12.  [All  the  modern  editors  except  Craig  and  Neilson  put  a  strong  stop 
after  "give,"  doubtless  interpreting  the  following  "That"  as  demonstrative. 
Following  the  Q  text,  I  explained  "that"  as  "so  that"  in  the  Tudor  edition; 
but  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  usual  corrected  punctuation  is  right.  Cf.  39,  8  and 
69,  3,  which  make  it  practically  certain  that  "That"  is  demonstrative;  and  it 
would  be  difficult  to  explain  the  use  of  "due"  without  pronoun  or  article. 
"That  due  of  many"  is  apparently  the  substantial  equivalent  of  the  "interest 
of  the  dead."  —  Ed.] 


88  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE        [xxxn 

If  thou  suruiue  my  well  contented  daie, 

When  that  churle  death  my  bones  with  dust  shall  couer 

And  shalt  by  fortune  once  more  re-suruay: 

These  poore  rude  lines  of  thy  deceased  Louer: 

Compare  them  with  the  bett'ring  of  the  time,  5 

And  though  they  be  out-stript  by  euery  pen, 

Reserue  them  for  my  loue,  not  for  their  rime, 

Exceeded  by  the  hight  of  happier  men. 

Oh  then  voutsafe  me  but  this  louing  thought,  9 

Had  my  friends  Muse  growne  with  this  growing  age, 

A  dearer  birth  then  this  his  loue  had  brought 

To  march  in  ranckes  of  better  equipage : 

But  since  he  died  and  Poets  better  proue, 

Theirs  for  their  stile  ile  read,  his  for  his  loue. 

4.  poore  rude]  Hyphened  by  Walker  conj. 
9.  voutsafe]  vouchsafe  1640,  G,  etc. 
10.  this]  his  But. 

10-14.  Had  .  .  .  loue]  Italics  by  M,  A,  Kly,  Co3;  quoted  by  Kt,  Co1.  2,  B, 
Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Wh,  Hal,  Cam,  Do,  etc. 

Dowden:  This  sonnet  reads  like  an  envoy.  Tyler:  Probably  the  envoy  to 
the  series  27-32.  Lee:  [This  sonnet  repeats  the  intimation  of  the  Dedication 
of  Lucrece]  that  the  patron's  love  alone  gives  value  to  the  poet's  "untutored 
lines."    {Life,  p.  128.) 

1.  well  contented.  Massey:  The  poet  calls  his  life  a  "well-contented  day," 
in  direct  opposition  to  the  malcontent  who  speaks  in  S.  29.  (p.  in.)  Rolfe: 
Possibly  it  refers  to  the  love  of  his  friend  which  .  .  .  has  made  up  for  all  the 
losses  he  has  suffered.  [Apparently  Rolfe  here  follows  the  misinterpretation  of 
Massey;  surely  the  "well  contented  day"  is  the  day  of  the  poet's  burial.  —  Ed.] 

4.  poore  rude  lines.  Delius:  If  any  one  seeks  to  learn  from  these  poems 
the  true  heart-meaning  of  our  poet,  what  —  for  example  —  Sh.  thought  of  the 
worth  of  his  sonnets,  he  will  surely  fall  into  some  perplexity  if  he  finds  the  same 
poems  here  called  "  poor  rude  lines  "  which  in  S.  18  were  "eternal  lines."  (Jahrb., 
1 :  41.)  Lover.  Malone:  It  is  proper  to  observe  that  such  addresses  to  men  were 
common  in  Sh.'s  time,  and  were  not  thought  indecorous.  .  .  .  We  have  many 
examples  in  our  author's  plays  of  the  expression  used  in  the  sonnet  before  us, 
and  afterwards  frequently  repeated.    [Cf.  Cor.,  V,  ii,  14:  "I  tell  thee,  fellow, 


xxxn]         THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  89 

thy  general  is  my  lover";  the  soothsayer  in  J.C.,  II,  Hi,  9,  "Thy  lover,  Artem- 
idorus";  Ulysses  in  T.  &  C,  III,  iii,  214,  "I  as  your  lover  speak."]  ...  In 
like  manner  Ben  Jonson  concludes  one  of  his  letters  to  Dr.  Donne  by  telling 
him  that  he  is  his  "ever  true  lover  ";  and  Drayton,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Drummond 
of  Hawthornden,  informs  him  that  Mr.  Joseph  Davies  is  in  love  with  him. 

5-6.  Dowden:  May  we  infer  from  these  lines  (and  10)  that  Sh.  had  a  sense 
of  the  wonderful  progress  of  poetry  in  the  time  of  Elizabeth?  Rolfe:  The 
reference  is  probably  to  the  general  improvement  that  may  be  expected  in  the 
future. 

7.  Reserve.  Malone:  Preserve.  Cf.  Per.,  IV,  i, 40:  "Reserve  that  excellent 
complexion."  Porter:  [Cf.  Daniel's  use  of  the  word,  in  Delia,  41  (39,  1594  ed.)J 
with  the  same  sense  of  cherishing  aloof:  .  .  . 

Thou  may'st  in  after  ages  live  esteemed, 
Unburied,  in  these  lines,  reserved  in  pureness. 

10.  Malone  :  We  may  .  .  .  infer  that  these  were  among  our  author's  earliest 
compositions.  [So  Drake  (2: 50),  who  compares  "pupil  pen"  in  16, 10.  Butler 
infers  from  Malone's  comment  that  he  intended  his  text  to  read  "  his  growing 
age,"  a  reading  noted  in  Capell's  MS.  and  then  erased.] 

12.  Tyler:  [Cf.  Marston,  Pigmalioris  Image,  1598,  where  he  speaks  of  his 
stanzas 

Which  like  soldados  of  our  warlike  age 
March  rich  bedight  in  warlike  equipage.] 

There  is  no  great  difficulty  in  perceiving  that  we  have  here  in  all  probability 
the  source  of  Sh.'s  line.  [Tyler  thinks  that  the  passage  alludes  to  the  contempo- 
rary popularity  of  Marston's  poem,  an  attempt  to  rival  V.  &  A.]  (Intro., 
p.  37.)  Lee:  [The  belief  that  this  line  was  imitated  from  an  expression  of  Mars- 
ton's]  is  quite  gratuitous.  The  phrase  was  common  in  Elizabethan  literature 
long  before  Marston  employed  it.  Nash,  in  his  preface  to  Green's  Menaphon 
(1589),  wrote  that  the  works  of  the  poet  Watson  "march  in  equipage  of  honour 
with  any  of  your  ancient  poets."  (Life,  p.  129  n.)  Porter:  The  mere  elabora- 
tion without  new  application  of  the  common  metaphor  by  Marston  tends  to 
show  that  he  is  the  borrower,  and  this  is  confirmed  by  all  the  external  evidence 
there  is  as  to  dates  of  his  work  and  Sh.'s  Sonnets. 

[A  MS.  copy  of  this  sonnet  (and  S.  71)  appears  in  a  commonplace  book  "  ap- 
parently kept  by  an  Oxford  student  about  1633,"  which  is  described  by  Lee 
(Sonnets,  facsimile  ed.,  1905,  Intro.,  p.  53  n.)  as  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Marsden 
Perry,  an  American  collector.  From  a  transcript  made  for  Lee  it  appears  that 
the  only  variant  reading  in  the  text  of  the  sonnet,  aside  from  spelling,  is  "  loue  " 
for  "  birth  "  in  line  11.  The  MS.  book  has  now,  unfortunately,  passed  from  Mr. 
Perry's  hands  to  those  of  a  less  generous  owner,  so  that  I  have  been  unable  to 
verify  the  transcript.  —  Ed.] 


90  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE       [xxxin 

33 

Fvll  many  a  glorious  morning  haue  I  seene, 

Flatter  the  mountaine  tops  with  soueraine  eie, 

Kissing  with  golden  face  the  meddowes  greene; 

jGuilding  pale  streames  with  heauenly  alcumy: 

Anon  permit  the  basest  cloudes  to  ride,  5 

With  ougly  rack  on  his  cel^tig^  face, 

And  from  the  for-lorne  world  his  visage  hide 

Stealing  vnseene  to  west  with  this  disgrace: 

Euen  so  my  Sunne  one  early  morne  did  shine,  9 

With  all  triumphant  splendor  on  my  brow, 

But  out  alack,  he  was  but  one  houre  mine, 

The  region  cloude  hath  mask'd  him  from  me  now. 

Yet  him  for  this,  my  loue  no  whit^disdaineth, 

Suns  of  the  world  may  staine,  wheJiea'uens  sun  stainteh. 

A 
1.  haue  I  seene]  sun  I  have  seen  Kly  conj. 
4.  alcumy:]  alchumy?  E. 

8.  west]  rest  Stee  conj.       this]  his  Walker  conj.,  Hu2,  But. 
10.  all  triumphant]  Hyphened  by  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  Gl,  Cam,  Do,  R,  Wh2, 
Ox,  etc. 
12.  region  cloude]  regent  cloud  B  conj.;  hyphened  by  Kly,  Wh2,  N. 
14.  stainteh]  stayneth  1640;  staineth  L,  etc. 

Delius:  [In  Sonnets  33-35]  we  are  able  to  see  only  poetic  variations  on  a 
point  of  incidence  in  the  last  scene  of  T.  G.  V.  (Jahrb.,  1 :  42.)  Spalding:  [From 
Sonnets  33-38  it  is  clear  that  the  friend]  has  said  or  done  something  that  has 
gone  to  Sh.'s  heart  like  a  knife.  [This  is  not  the  intrigue  of  S.  40-42,  but,  as  is 
suggested  by  36-37,  an  unwillingness  or  refusal  on  the  friend's  part,  perhaps 
taunted  by  his  associates,  to  admit  his  friendship  with  Sh.]  (Gent.  Mag.,  242: 
307.)  Dowden:  A  new  group  seems  to  begin  with  this  sonnet.  It  introduces 
the  wrongs  done  to  Sh.  by  his  friend.  Wyndham:  The  first  of  the  more  imme- 
diately personal  garlands  [forms  the  group  33-42].  .  .  .  The  biographical  inter- 
est of  this  group  has  won  it  an  undeserved  attention  at  the  expense  of  others. 
Many  suppose  that  all  the  Sonnets  turn  on  this  theme,  or,  at  least,  that  the 
loudest  note  of  passion  is  here  sounded.  But  this  is  not  so.  Of  all  ten  three  at 
the  most  can  be  called  tragic.  These  are  34  —  but  it  arises  out  of  the  lovely 
imagery  of  33;  36  —  but  it  ends, 

I  love  thee  in  such  sort 
As  thou  being  mine,  mine  is  thy  good  report; 


xxxiii]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  91 

and  40,  but  it  ends,  "Yet  we  must  not  be  foes."  33  is  indeed  beautiful,  but  the 
others  return  to  the  early  theme  of  mere  immortalising,  or  are  expressed  in 
abstruse  or  playful  conceits  which  make  it  impossible  to  believe  they  mirror  a 
soul  in  pain.  .  .  .  Knowing  what  Sh.  can  do  to  express  anguish  and  passion, 
are  we  not  absurd  to  find  the  evidence  of  either  in  these  sonnets,  written,  as 
they  are,  on  a  private  sorrow,  but  in  the  spirit  of  conscious  art?  (Intro.,  p.  cxi.) 
[The  sound  sense  animating  this  note  of  Wyndham's  makes  it,  in  my  judgment, 
worthy  of  special  emphasis.  Equally  remarkable,  in  another  way,  is  the  gro- 
tesque literalness  of  the  following  note.  —  Ed.]  Butler:  Between  Sonnets  32 
and  33  I  suppose  that  there  has  been  a  catastrophe.  [Some  trap  had  been  laid  for 
Sh.;  he  was]  made  to  "travel  forth  without"  that  "cloak,"  which,  if  he  had  not 
been  lured,  we  may  be  sure  that  he  would  not  have  discarded.  Hardly  had  he 
laid  the  cloak  aside  before  he  was  surprised  according  to  a  preconcerted  scheme, 
and  very  probably  roughly  handled,  for  we  find  him  lame  soon  afterwards 
(37,  3)-    (P.  70.) 

1.  Porter:  A  pause  in  time  is  indicated  [here]  by  much  the  same  means  of 
indirect  impression  of  an  interval  as  is  characteristic  of  Sh.'s  manner  of  indi- 
cating the  passage  of  time  in  the  plays. 

2.  Flatter.  Lee:  Cf.  Edw.  j,  I,  ii,  141:  "Let  not  thy  presence  like  the  April 
sun  flatter  the  earth." 

Steevens:  Cf.  K.J.,  III,  i,  77-80: 

The  glorious  sun  _ 

Stays  in  his  course  and  plays  the  alchemist, 
Turning  with  splendour  of  his  precious  eye 
The  meagre  cloddy  earth  to  glittering  gold. 

5-6.  *Capell:  Cf.  1  H.  4,  I,  ii,  220-26: 

The  sun, 
Who  doth  permit  the  base  contagious  clouds 
To  smother  up  his  beauty  from  the  world, 
That  when  he  please  again  to  be  himself 
Being  wanted,  he  may  be  more  wond'red  at 
By  breaking  through  the  foul  and  ugly  mists 
Of  vapours  that  did  seem  to  strangle  him. 

Henry  Brown:  [Cf.  3  H.  6,  V,  iii,  3-6: 

In  the  midst  of  this  bright-shining  day 
I  spy  a  black,  suspicious,  threat'ning  cloud, 
That  will  encounter  with  our  glorious  sun.       (p.  173.)] 

6.  rack.  Malone:  The  fleeting  motion  of  the  clouds.  Cf.  A.  &  C,  IV,  xiv, 
10:  "Even  with  a  thought  the  rack  dislimns."  Dowden:  A  mass  of  vapoury 
clouds.  "The  winds  in  the  upper  region,  which  move  the  clouds  above  (which 
we  call  the  rack),'1  Bacon,  Sylva  Sylvarum,  sec.  115,  p.  32,  ed.  1658  (quoted  by 
Dyce,  Glossary). 

7.  for-lorne.   Abbott  [notes  this  as  one  of  the  words  accented  "nearer  the 


92  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE       [xxxm 

beginning  than  with  us."  (§  492.)  Rolfe  notes  that  its  accent  is  penultimate 
only  when  it  precedes  an  accented  syllable.] 

8.  to  west.  Abbott:  As  much  an  adverb  as  "westward."   (§  90.) 

11.  one  houre  mine.  Tyler:  Pretty  clear  evidence  that,  when  the  incident 
in  question  occurred,  the  friendship  had  been  very  brief.    (Intro.,  p.  17.) 

12.  Tyler:  Cf.  f.  G.  V.,  I,  iii,  84-87: 

O  how  this  spring  of  love  resembleth 

The  uncertain  glory  of  an  April  day, 
Which  now  shows  all  the  beauty  of  the  sun, 

And  by  and  by  a  cloud  takes  all  away. 

region.  N.  E.  D.;  One  of  the  successive  portions  into  which  the  air  or  atmos- 
phere is  theoretically  divided  according  to  height.  [Dowden  quotes  the  Clar- 
endon Press  edition  of  Hamlet  to  the  effect  that]  by  Sh.  the  word  is  used  to 
denote  the  air  generally.    [Cf.  Haml.,  II,  ii,  607.] 

13.  this.  Percy  Simpson  [notes  that  the  comma  here  is  an  instance  of  its 
use  between  parts  of  a  sentence  which  are  in  inverted  order.  (Sh.  Punctuation, 
pp.  49-51.) 

14.  staine.  Schmidt:  Grow  dim.   [For  the  transitive  use,  see  35,  3.] 

Price  [views  this  sonnet,  with  73  and  97,  as  representing,]  in  their  power  of 
using  the  beauty  of  physical  nature  as  the  symbol  of  human  emotion,  .  .  .  the 
highest  lyrical  expression  that  English  poetry  has  achieved,    (p.  375.) 

Coleridge  [instances  the  opening  of  this  Sonnet  (together  with  S.  107)  as 
characteristic  of  Sh.'s  imaginative  style,  by  which  he]  gives  a  dignity  and  a 
passion  to  the  objects  which  he  presents.  Unaided  by  any  previous  excitement, 
they  burst  upon  us  at  once  in  life  and  in  power.    {Biog.  Lit.,  chap.  15.) 


xxxiv]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  93 

34 

Why  didst  thou  promise  such  a  beautious  day, 

And  make  me  trauaile  forth  without  my  cloake, 

To  let  bace  cloudes  ore-take  me  in  my  way, 

Hiding  thy  brau'ry  in  their  rotten  smoke. 

Tis  not  enough  that  through  the  cloude  thou  breake,  5 

To  dry  the  raine  on  my  storme-beaten  face, 

For  no  man  well  of  such  a  salue  can  speake, 

That  heales  the  wound,  and  cures  not  the  disgrace: 

Nor  can  thy  shame  giue  phisicke  to  my  griefe,  9 

Though  thou  repent,  yet  I  haue  still  the  losse, 

Th'  offenders  sorrow  lends  but  weake  relief e 

To  him  that  beares  the  strong  offenses  losse. 

Ah  but  those  teares  are  pearle  which  thy  loue  sheeds, 

And  they  are  ritch,  and  ransome  all  ill  deeds. 

2.  trauaile]  travel  G2,  E,  etc. 
4.  thy]  my  C.  smoke.]  smoke?  G2,  etc. 
10-12.  losse  .  .  .  losse]  cross  .  .  .  cross  S2,  E;  loss  .  .  .  cross  C,  M,  etc. 

11.  Th'  offenders]  The  offender's  M,  Kt,  B,  Del,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Cam,  Do,  R,  etc. 

12.  beares  the]  bears  G1;  beareth  G2,  S,  E. 

13.  sheeds]  sheds  G,  etc. 

Mr.  Horace  Davis  [notes  the  resemblance  of  this  and  the  following  sonnet 
to  S.  120;  cf.  especially  the  repeated  words  "salve,"  "wound,"  "sorrow," 
"ransom."] 

4.  brav'ry.  Schmidt:  Splendour.   [Cf.  15,  8.] 

7-8.  such  .  .  .  that.  Abbott:  "Such"  was,  by  derivation,  the  natural  ante- 
cedent to  "which";  .  .  .  hence  [it]  is  used  with  other  relatival  words.  (£§  278- 
79.)  Franz:  In  Sh.  "as"  is  the  regular  correlative,  yet  the  relative  pronouns 
appear  with  it,  "that"  most  numerously.    (§  207.) 

Massey:  Cf.  Spenser,  F.  Q.,  Bk.  2,  c.  1,  st.  20: 

All  wrongs  have  mends,  but  no  amends  of  shame. 

Now,  therefore,  lady,  rise  out  of  your  pain, 

And  see  the  salving  of  your  blotted  name.  (p.  127.) 

8.  disgrace.  Porter:  Such  disgrace  as  is  meant  by  "right  perfection  wrong- 
fully disgrac'd"  (66,  7). 

12.  losse.  Malone.  The  word  ["  cross "]  now  substituted   is   used   by  our 


94  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE        [xxxiv 

author,  in  the  sense  required  here,  in  42,  12.  Dowden:  See  also  133,  8  .  .  .  and 
J34»  J3  ["him  have  I  lost"]. 

[De  Wailly  {pseud.  A.  Morlaix),  conceiving  this  sonnet  to  be  addressed  by 
lover  to  lady,  comments  in  a  passage  whose  Gallicism  may  perhaps  serve  as  a 
pleasing  contrast  to  the  Teutonic  criticism  with  which  the  Sonnets  have  been 
more  largely  overlaid:]  N'est-ce  pas  une  scene  charmante?  ces  reproches  de 
l'amant  blesse,  le  repentir  de  la  jeune  femme  qui,  croyons-le  cette  fois,  n'a  ete 
qu'un  peu  coquette  et  legere;  sa  promesse,  a  deux  genoux  s'il  le  faut,  de  ne  plus 
retomber  dans  la  meme  faute;  le  jeune  homme  persistant  tant  qu'il  peut  dans 
son  ressentiment  et  s'excitant  a  la  fermete,  mais  ne  pouvant  resister  a  la  vue 
des  larmes  de  celle  qu'il  aime,  et  la  relevant  pour  la  presser  sur  son  coeur,  n'est-ce 
pas  la  un  delicieux  chapitre  de  roman?  et  ne  vous  revient-il  pas  a  la  memoire 
cet  air  ravissant  de  Zerlina,  Batti,  batti,  0  bel  Mazetto,  dans  le  Don  Juan  de 
Mozart?   (Rev.  des  d.  Mondes,  3  sen,  4:  685.) 


xxxv]         THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  95 

35 
No  more  bee  greeu'd  at  that  which  thou  hast  done, 
Roses  haue  thornes,  and  siluer  fountaines  mud, 
Cloudes  and  eclipses  staine  both  'Moone  and  Sunne, 
And  loathsome  canker  Hues  in  sweetest  bud. 
All  men  make  faults,  and  euen  I  in  this,  5 

Authorizing  thy  trespas  with  compare, 
My  selfe  corrupting  saluing  thy  amisse, 
Excusing  their  sins  more  then  their  sins  are: 
For  to  thy  sensuall  fault  I  bring  in  sence,  9 

Thy  aduerse  party  is  thy  Aduocate, 
And  gainst  my  selfe  a  lawfull  plea  commence, 
Such  ciuill  war  is  in  my  loue  and  hate, 
That  I  an  accessary  needs  must  be, 
To  that  sweet  theefe  which  sourely  robs  from  me, 

2.  siluer  fountaines]  Hyphened  by  Kly. 

7.  corrupting  saluing]  corrupting,  salving  G2,  S2,  etc. ;  corrupt  in  salving  C. 

8.  their  .  .  .  are]  Quoted  by  Bull,  their  .  .  .  their]  thy  .  .  .  thy  C,  M,  etc, 
(except  Wy,  Bull);  thy  .  .  .  their  Wy;  thee  .  .  .  thy  Be  conj.;  their  .  .  .  thy  Bull, 
are]  bear  or  share  Sta  conj. 

9.  thy]  my  G,  S,  E.       in  sence]  incense  G2,  S2,  E,  M  conj. 

9-10.  sence,  Thy  .  .  .  Aduocate]  sense,  (Thy  .  .  .  advocate,)  M,  A,  Kt,  B, 
Hu1;  sense  (Thy  .  .  .  advocate)  Ty;  sense,  —  Thy  .  .  .  advocate,  —  Del,  Dy,  Sta, 
CI,  Hu2,  Ox,  Bull;  sense  —  Thy  .  .  .  advocate  —  Gl,  Wh,  Cam,  Do,  R,  Wy,  But, 
Her,  Be,  N,  Wa;  sense,  —  Thy  .  .  .  advocate  —  Kly;  sense,  Thy  adverse  party, 
as  thy  advocate,  Do  conj. 

13.  accessary]  accessory  A,  Kt,  B,  Hu1,  Sta,  Kly,  But. 

14.  sourely]  sorely  G,  S,  E. 

3.  Fleay:  The  eclipse  of  the  moon  (Cynthia-Elizabeth)  and  the  sun 
(Southampton;  cf.  33,  14  and  34)  are,  I  think,  conclusive  of  a  date  when  Sh. 
was  temporarily  out  of  favour  with  both  court  and  patron,  and  no  such  date 
can  I  find  but  1597,  circa  June.    (Biog.  Chron.,  2:  217.) 

4.  canker.  Wyndham:  Cf.  70,  7;  95,  2. 

6.  Dowden:  [Finding]  precedents  for  your  misdeed  by  comparisons  with 
roses,  fountains,  sun,  and  moon.  Tyler:  By  comparing  thy  fault  to  the 
"loathsome  canker"  ...  I  really  give  the  fault  a  sanction  ("authorizing  it"); 


96  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE         [xxxv 

for  it  sinks  into  insignificance  and  disappears  altogether  when  such  extravagant 
comparison  is  made.   [For  other  interpretations,  see  notes  on  1.  8.] 

7.  My  selfe  corrupting.  Tyler:  By  unduly  esteeming  the  offence  against 
me,  I  foster  an  excessive  sense  of  my  own  importance.  [I  cannot  understand 
this  note,  taken  with  the  context.  The  "corrupting"  appears  to  be  that  infec- 
tion of  the  speaker  which  his  very  love  for  the  friend  is  causing.  —  Ed.]  amisse. 
Schmidt:  Offence.  [Cf.  151,  3.  The  N.  E.  D.  explains  the  substantive  as 
adjective  or  adverb  used  quasi  "a  doing  amiss"  or  "a  thing  which  is  amiss."] 

8.  [Notes  on  this- difficult  line  must  be  read  in  connection  with  the  efforts 
made  to  amend  the  text.  The  change  of  "their"  to  "thy,"  in  either  or  both 
instances,  is  of  course  amply  warranted  by  analogous  errors  (see  note  on  26,  12). 
Bullen's  ingenious  reading,  the  equivalent  of  "Making  this  excuse:  Their  sins 
are  more  than  thine,"  is  attractive  but  unidiomatic.  —  Ed.]  Steevens  [read- 
ing "thy  .  .  .  thy"]:  Making  the  excuse  more  than  proportioned  tothe  offence. 
Delius  [same  reading:]  My  pardon  of  thy  sins  goes  further  than  thy  sins  them- 
selves. Massey  [defends  the  Q  text,  but  his  interpretation  is  wrapped  up  with 
his  "dramatic"  theory  which  understands  this  sonnet  to  be  spoken  by  a 
woman:]  The  plural  ["their"]  belongs  to  all  men.  .  .  .  The  speaker  says,  "All 
men  commit  faults,  .  .  .  and  even  I  who  am  not  a  man  do  so  in  authorizing 
your  trespass  by  comparison  with  theirs.  ...  In  doing  this  she  is  'salving'  his 
'amiss'  by  excusing  'their  sins  more  than  their  sins  are.'  "  That  is,  she  ex- 
aggerates the  sins  of  men  in  general,  and  their  proneness  to  faults,  on  purpose 
to  make  less  of  his.  (p.  125.)  Wyndham:  I  retain  the  second  "their,"  and  put  a 
comma  after  the  first  "sins,"  believing  that  "than  their  sins  are"  refers  back 
to. "  All  men  make  faults."  .  .  .  The  sense  is:  "  All  men  make  faults,  and  even  I 
in  saying  so,  giving  authority  by  thy  trespass  by  thus  comparing  it  to  the 
faults  of  all  men;  I  myself  am  guilty  of  corrupting  in  so  'salving  thy  amiss'; 
excusing  thy  sins  (which  are)  more  than  their  sins  are."  Butler  [reading  "thy 
.  .  .  thy":]  Finding  examples  that  will  justify  your  act,  becoming  an  accessory 
to  it,  glozing  it  over,  and  making  excuses  for  it,  are  worse  sins  than  any  of 
which  you  are  guilty.  Beeching  [same  reading]:  The  necessary  sense  is  plain 
from  the  line  which  follows.  The  poet  sins  worse  than  his  friend  because  in  his 
excuse  he  .sins  against  reason;  and  this  can  be  got  out  of  the  reading  ...  by 
taking  "more"  in  the  sense  of  worse;  i.e.,  "excusing  thy  sins  with  more  wicked- 
ness than  they  themselves  denote."  Porter  [Q  text]:  All  men  are  faulty,  and 
even  he  in  this  is  so  in  the  same  way  that  they  are  when  they  commit  or  "  make 
faults,"  i.e.,  by  excusing  their  sins  in  a  way  that  is  more  sinful  than  their  sins 
themselves  are.  [It  is  doubtful  whether  the  labors  of  later  critics  have  bettered 
the  suggestion  of  Steevens.  —  Ed.] 

9.  sensuall.  Spalding:  [Not  necessarily  referring  to  the  gratification  of  the 
senses,  but  as  used  by  Hooker:]  "The  greatest  part  of  men  are  such  as  prefer 
their  own  private  good  before  all  things,  even  that  good  which  is  sensual  before 
whatsoever  is  most  divine."  (Gent.  Mag.,  242:  309.)  sence.  Malone  [appar- 
ently not  noticing  the  reading  in  earlier  editions,  proposed  "incense,"  and 
brought  together  various  parallels  for  the  accent  of  such  a  word  on  the  final 


xxxv]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  97 

syllable.]  Steevens:  I  believe  the  old  reading  to  be  the  true  one.  .  .  .  "To- 
wards thy  exculpation,  I  bring  in  the  aid  of  my  soundest  faculties,  my  keenest 
perception,  my  utmost  strength  of  reason,  my  sense.'1  I  think  I  can  venture 
to  affirm  that  no  English  writer,  either  ancient  or  modern,  serious  or  burlesque, 
ever  accented  the  substantive  "incense"  on  the  last  syllable.  Dowden:  Rea- 
son, judgment,  discretion.  Tyler:  Probably  sense  of  thy  true  worth  and  con- 
sideration of  the  circumstances.  Wyndham:  Understanding,  discernment, 
appreciation.  Cf.  C.  of  E.,  II,  i,  22,  where  men  by  contrast  to  the  brute  crea- 
tion are  "Indued  with  intellectual  sense  and  souls."  .  .  .  There  is  also  a  play 
on  the  opposite  meaning  of  "sense,"  akin  to  that  of  "sensual."  Schmidt: 
Reason. 

10.  Dowden:  If  we  receive  the  present  text,  "thy  adverse  party"  must 
mean  Sh.  [But  with  the  proposed  reading  "as  thy  advocate"  it  is  Sense,] 
against  which  he  has  offended.  Wyndham:  "Advocate,"  with  a  capital,  and 
the  sequence  of  the  next  line,  in  which  the  p6et  himself  "commences  a  lawful 
plea,"  confirm  the  Q  text  and  indicate  "thy  advocate"  =  the  poet. 

13.  accessary.  N.  E.  D.:  The  substantive  is  etymologically  "accessary" 
and  the  adjective  "accessory."  Butler:  [Sh.  here  admits  that  he  has  himself 
been  accessory  to  Mr.  W.  H.'s  intrigue  with  his  mistress.]  ...  I  imagine  Sh. 
to  be  referring  to  the  fact  that  he  had  written  sonnets  for  W.  H.  to  give  the 
lady  as  though  they  were  his  own.  [See  note  on  S.  135.]  [The  reader  may  be 
harmlessly  entertained  by  comments  of  this  character.  It  is  surely  unnecessary 
to  show  that  the  figure  "accessary"  sums  up  the  contents  of  lines  5-12.  —  Ed.] 

Butler:  Nothing  can  be  more  obviously  out  of  place,  as  coming  between 
34  and  36,  than  a  sonnet  which  accuses  Mr.  W.  H.  of  having  committed  a  "sen- 
sual fault"  in  respect  of  the  catastrophe  of  33  and  34.  [Butler  has  just  argued, 
from  S.  94  and  other  considerations,  that,  whatever  faults  the  friend  may  have 
had,  sensuality  was  not  one  of  them.]  On  taking  out  35,  36  follows  34  naturally 
enough,    (p.  72.) 

[Note  the  unusual  structure  of  this  sonnet:  the  principal  pause  which  pre- 
cedes the  conclusion  occurring  not,  as  usual,  at  the  end  of  the  12th  line,  but  of 
the  nth. —  Ed.] 


98  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE        [xxxvi 

36 

Let  me  confesse  that  we  two  must  be  twaine, 

Although  our  vndeuided  loues  are  one: 

So  shall  those  blots  that  do  with  me  remaine, 

Without  thy  helpe,  by  me  be  borne  alone. 

In  our  two  loues  there  is  but  one  respect,  5 

Though  in  our  Hues  a  seperable  spight, 

Which  though  it  alter  not  loues  sole  effect, 

Yet  doth  it  steale  sweet  houres  from  loues  delight, 

I  may  not  euer-more  acknowledge  thee,  9 

Least  my  bewailed  guilt  should  do  thee  shame, 

Nor  thou  with  publike  kindnesse  honour  me, 

Vnlesse  thou  take  that  honour  from  thy  name: 

But  doe  not  so,  I  loue  thee  in  such  sort, 

As  thou  being  mine,  mine  is  thy  good  report. 

4.  borne]  born  Bo. 

9.  euer-more]  ever  more  Walker  conj.,  Wy. 

Dowden:  According  to  the  announcement  made  in  35,  Sh.  proceeds  to 
make  himself  out  the  guilty  party.  Beeching:  The  poet  has  made  no  such 
announcement.  He  has  called  himself  an  "accessory,"  more  to  blame  than  the 
principal  because  he  defends  his  action.  .  .  .  But  that  is  a  long  way  from 
"making  himself  out  the  guilty  party."  The  sonnets  from  36  to  39  must  refer 
to  a  different  topic. 

Walsh  [groups  the  sonnet  with  39  and  62,  as  on  the  theme  of  the  identity 
of  the  lover  with  the  beloved.  Cf.  also  22  (and  notes  above),  40-42,  88,  112, 
I33_I34;  and  The  Phoenix  and  Turtle: 

So  they  loved,  as  love  in  twain 

Had  the  essence  but  of  one; 

Two  distincts,  division  none; 

Number  there  in  love  was  slain. 

Hearts  remote,  yet  not  asunder; 

Distance,  and  no  space  was  seen.  .  .  . 

Either  was  the  other's  mine;  (etc.)] 

[Mr.  Horace  Davis  notes  the  kinship  of  the  sonnet  with  S.  89.] 

3.  those  blots.  Tyler:  We  ought  probably  to  understand  this  expression, 
as  well  as  the  "bewailed  guilt"  of  line  10,  not  of  moral  turpitude,  but  of  the 


xxxvi]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  99 

professional  occupation  and  lower  social  standing  of  the  poet.    [See  notes  on 
lines  6  and  10.] 

5.  respect.  Schmidt:  Thought.  Dowden:  Regard.  Cf.  Cor.,  Ill,  iii,  112: 
"I  do  love  my  country's  good  with  a  respect  more  tender."  [So  Rolfe  and 
Beeching.]  Tyler:  "But  one  respect"  =  perfect  similarity.  [Wyndham 
inclines  to  view  the  word  as  having  its  first  meaning  of  "regard"  in  the  sense 
of  "looking  towards"  one  object;  this  he  connects  with  Dowden's  interpreta- 
tion of  line  10.  I  incline  to  what  I  suppose  to  be  Tyler's  view,  viz.,  that  the 
word  has  its  colorless  meaning,  sometimes  glossed  as  "relation,  point  of  view." 
On  the  other  hand,  for  the  more  generally  accepted  interpretation  one  might 
cite  26,  12.  —  Ed.] 

6.  seperable.  M alone:  For  "separating."  Abbott:  Adjectives  ...  in  -Jul, 
-less,  -ble,  and  -ive  have  both  an  active  and  a  passive  meaning.  (§  3.)  Walker 
[discusses  the  same  matter,  citing  Sidney,  Arcadia,  Bk.  2,  "In  the  deceivable 
style  of  affection."  (Crit.  Exam.,  I:  185.)]  Schmidt:  "Separable  spite"  = 
"spiteful  separation."  [See  note  on  9,  14.]  Acheson:  [In  this  line,  and  11-12, 
Sh.  bewails  his  social  position,  and  we  are  enabled  to  understand  his  applica- 
tion for  a  grant  of  arms  in  1596.  See  note  on  S.  26.  (Sh.  &  the  R.  P.,  p.  119.)] 
Porter  [opposes  the  view  that  the  reference  is  to  disparity  of  rank.]  Their 
separation  in  "social  standing"  was  nothing  new.  And  it  has  been  clearly 
enough  said  in  S.  35  that  it  was  the  effect  of  the  imperfection  on  their  internal 
relationship  that  caused  the  poet,  through  becoming  an  "accessary,"  by  his 
great  love  and  indulgence,  to  see  that  they  must  be  twain,  however  much  they 
still  love  each  other.  It  is  the  poet's  superior  moral  standing,  his  profounder 
intelligence,  and  more  generous  heart  that  involve  separation. 

8.  it.  Abbott:  The  supplementary  pronoun  is  generally  confined  to  cases 
where  the  relative  is  separated  from  its  verb  by  an  intervening  clause,  and 
where  on  this  account  clearness  requires  [the  repetition].    (§  249.) 

10.  Dowden:  Perhaps  the  passage  means:  "  I  may  not  claim  you  as  a  friend, 
lest  my  relation  to  the  dark  woman  —  now  a  matter  of  grief  —  should  convict 
you  of  faithlessness  in  friendship."  Wyndham:  There  is  much  of  probability 
in  this  gloss.  Porter:  This  is  the  guilt  bewailed  in  S.  35,  complicity  in  the 
higher  realm  of  moral  sense  with  a  lower  realm  of  sensual  faultiness. 

13-14.  Tyler:  The  poet  dissuades  Mr.  W.  H.  from  publicly  recognising 
the  acquaintance,  so  that  his  social  consideration  may  not  be  thereby  compro- 
mised. [These  lines  are  repeated  as  the  concluding  couplet  of  S.  96.  See  notes 
there.  —  Ed.] 

[For  its  general  tone,  this  sonnet  should  be  compared  with  109-111.  —  Ed.] 
[S.  Smith  Travers  views  this  sonnet  as  proof  that  the  series  was  addressed 
to  an  illegitimate  son  of  Sh.  Cf.  also  39,  62,  72.] 


ioo  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE      [xxxvn 

37 

As  a  decrepit  father  takes  delight, 

To  see  his  actiue  childe  do  deeds  of  youth, 

So  I,  made  lame  by  Fortunes  dearest  spight 

Take  all  my  comfort  of  thy  worth  and  truth. 

For  whether  beauty,  birth,  or  wealth,  or  wit,  5 

Or  any  of  these  all,  or  all,  or  more 

Intitled  in  their  parts,  do  crowned  sit, 

I  mak£  my  loue  ingrafted  to  this  store : 

So  then  I  am  not  lame,  poore,  nor  dispis'd,  9 

Whilst  that  this  shadow  doth  such  substance  giue, 

That  I  in  thy  abundance  am  suffic'd, 

And  by  a  part  of  all  thy  glory  Hue : 

Looke  what  is  best,  that  best  I  wish  in  thee, 

This  wish  I  haue,  then  ten  times  happy  me. 

7.  Intitled]  Entituled  Wy.  their]  thy  C,  M,  etc.  (except  Wy,  N,  Bull),  Tu. 

9.  nor]  not  Wh2. 

10.  this]  thy  Caldecott  conj.  (MS.). 

11.  am]  an  1640. 
14.  me]  be  E. 

3.  lame.  M alone:  Mr.  Capell,  grounding  himself  on  this  line,  and  another 
in  S.  89,  "Speak  of  my  lameness,  and  I  straight  will  halt,"  conjectured  that 
Sh.  was  literally  lame:  but  the  expression  appears  to  have  been  only  figurative. 
Cf.  Cor.,  IV,  vii,  7:  "Unless,  by  using  means,  I  lame  the  foot  of  our  design." 
[Capell's  observation  was  made  in  connection  with  the  legend  that  Sh.  had 
played  the  part  of  Adam  in  A.  Y.  L.;  "For  which  he  might  be  fitted  by  an 
accidental  lameness,  which,  as  he  himself  tells  us  twice  in  his  Sonnets,  befell 
him  in  some  part  of  life."  See  New  Variorum  ed.  of  A.  Y.  L.,  where  Furness 
calls  this  a  "monstrous  idea,"  which  every  now  and  then  "is  blazoned  forth  as 
new  and  original  by  some  one  who  discovers  the  Sonnets  —  by  reading  them 
for  the  first  time."  (p.  129.)  An  anonymous  writer  in  the  Westm.  Rev.  (68:  126) 
supports  Capell's  view  on  the  rather  curious  ground  that  in  1.  9  "the  lameness 
is  evidently  distinct  from  the  poverty  and  abasement."  F.  V.  Hugo  calls  the 
term  figurative,  and  offers  as  (rather  dubious)  proof  the  line  from  the  Pass. 
Pilgrim,  "  Youth  is  nimble,  age  is  lame."  A  correspondent  of  N.  &  Q.  (5th  ser., 
1:  80),  signing  himself  "  Jabez,"  gives  an  amusing  outline  of  the  rise  of  the 
myth  of  Sh.'s  lameness,  and  adds:  "  It  has  been  reserved  for  me  to  inform  the 


xxx vii]      THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  joi 

world  that  Sh.  was  crook-backed,  for  has  he  not  written,  in  S.  90,  the  line, 
'Join  with  the  spite  of  fortune,  make  me  bow'?  By  Fortune's  spite,  then,  he 
was  a  hunch-back,  and  by  Fortune's  dearest  spite  he  was  a  limper! "]  Dowden: 
Sh.  uses  "to  lame"  in  the  sense  of  "disable."  Here  the  "worth"  and  "truth" 
of  his  friend  are  set  over  against  the  lameness  of  Sh.;  the  lameness  is  then 
metaphorical;  a  disability  to  join  in  the  joyous  movement  of  life.  .  .  .  Mr. 
Swinburne,  in  his  mocking  "  Report  of  the  Proceedings,  etc.,  of  the  Newest  Sh. 
Society,"  introduces  Mr.  E.  reading  a  paper  on  "The  Lameness  of  Sh. — was 
it  moral  or  physical?"  Mr.  E.  assumes  at  once  that  the  infirmity  was  physical. 
"Then  arose  the  question  —  In  which  leg? "  Perhaps  it  is  best  so  to  dismiss  the 
subject  —  with  a  jest.  Tyler:  [For  the  metaphor,  cf.  A.  Y.  L.,  I,  iii,  6:  "Come, 
lame  me  with  reasons";  (communicated  by  W.  A.  Harrison).]  Wyndham: 
Obviously  metaphorical,  arising  out  of  the  illustration  drawn  from  a  "decrepit 
father."  .  .  .  [The  term  also]  follows  an  allusion  in  the  preceding  number  to 
some  disgrace  which,  whether  deservedly  or  not,  has  overtaken  the  poet. 
Butler:  I  accept  the  lameness,  poverty,  and  contempt  as  literally  true  for 
this  period  of  Sh.'s  life.  It  does  not  follow  that  he  had  been  lame  long,  nor  yet 
that  he  remained  so.  Beeching:  The  lameness  must  be  metaphorical  to  keep 
the  proportion  with  "worth  and  truth."  ...  A  good  parallel  is  quoted  by 
Dowden  from  Lear,  IV,  vi,  225  (Q) :  "A  most  poor  man  made  lame  by  Fortune's 
blows."  dearest.  Malone:  Most  operative.  Cf.  Kami.,  I,  ii,  182:  "Would  I 
had  met  my  dearest  foe  in  heaven."  Schmidt:  Heartfelt.  [The  iV.  E.  D.  dis- 
tinguishes this  and  similar  uses  of  the  word  as  from  O.  E.  deor  (the  more  com- 
mon "dear"  being  from  deore),  strenuous,  bold;  hence  hard,  grievous.  Cf.  R.  2, 
I,  iii,  151,  "Thy  dear  exile."  That  the  two  meanings  were  viewed  as  distinct 
words  in  Sh.'s  time  is  surely  more  than  doubtful.  For  such  uses  as  the  present 
one,  Furness  always  cites  the  definition  of  W.  A.  Wright:  "'Dear'  is  used  of 
whatever  touches  us  nearly,  either  in  love  or  hate,  joy  or  sorrow."  —  Ed.] 

4.  truth.  Cf.  14,  11  and  14,  and  note  on  54,  2. 

5.  C.  A.  Brown:  [These  lines  expressly  indicate  that  the  young  man  ad- 
dressed was  possessed  not  only  of  beauty  but  of  birth  and  fortune,  (p.  40.)] 
Archer:  The  young  man  [possessed  of  the  qualities  mentioned]  can  scarcely 
be  unknown  to  fame.  The  beauty  and  wit,  indeed,  are  matters  of  opinion,  and 
the  poet's  testimony  must  be  taken  for  what  it  is  worth;  but  he  would  scarcely 
attribute  birth  and  wealth  to  a  youth  who  possessed  neither.  {Fort.  Rev.,  n.  s. 
62:  816.)  Butler:  Sh.  does  not  say,  "You  have  beauty,  birth,  wealth,  and 
wit."  He  says,  "If  you  have  any  single  one  of  these  four,  or  if  you  even  have 
them  all,  and  others  that  I  have  not  named  —  whatever  you  may  have,  I  shall 
graft  my  love  thereon."  Granted  that  Sh.  would  not  name  beauty  if  his  friend 
was  remarkably  plain;  birth,  if  he  was  notoriously  base-born;  wealth,  if  he  was 
necessitous;  or  wit,  if  he  was  next  door  to  a  fool;  but  if  he  was  good-looking,  of 
the  same  social  status  as  Sh.  himself,  not  living  from  hand  to  mouth,  and  not  a 
fool  (which  by  the  way  I  think  he  probably  was),  Sh.  would  be  well  within  his 
rights  in  writing  [these  lines];  nor  can  I  find  clearer  proof  that  nothing  in  the 
Sonnets  suggests  that  their  addressee  was  in  a  higher  social  position  than  Sh.'s, 


ioe  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE      [xxxvn 

than  the  fact  that  these  lines  are  the  strongest  which  those  who  would  have  him 
to  have  been  a  great  nobleman  are  able  to  bring  forward.  (Intro.,  p.  52.) 
Beeching:  As  the  friend's  beauty  is  sufficiently  certified  by  the  rest  of  the 
sonnets,  the  presumption  is  that  his  birth  and  wealth  and  wit  are  equally 
matters  of  fact.  The  whole  point  of  the  sonnet  is  that  the  friend  had  advan- 
tages of  fortune  which  were  denied  to  the  poet.  .  .  .  This  sonnet  puts  it  beyond 
doubt  that  Sh.'s  friend  was  substantially  above  the  poet  in  social  position. 
(Intro.,  p.  xxx.)   [On  this  subject,  see  also  notes  on  S.  124.  —  Ed.] 

7.  Intitled  in  their  parts.    Malone:  "Entitled"  means,  I  think,  ennobled. 
Steevens:  Cf.  Lucrece,  57: 

But  Beauty,  in  that  white  intituled, 

From  Venus'  doves  doth  challenge  that  fair  field; 

[which  I  suppose  means,]  "beauty  takes  its  title  from  that  fairness  or  white." 
Delius:  Established  in  thy  gifts  (with  the  right  of  possession).  Palgrave: 
Ennobled  in  thy  genius.  [All  the  foregoing  accept  the  emendation  "thy."] 
Schmidt:  Having  a  just  claim  to  the  first  place  as  their  due  [i.e.,  more  excel- 
lencies]; blundering  modern  editors  [read  "thy"].  Rolfe:  Finding  their  title 
or  claim  to  the  throne  in  thy  qualities.  Cf.  Lucrece,  57.  Tyler:  The  various 
endowments  of  the  poet's  friend  are  spoken  of  as  though  each  were  a  monarch 
reigning  in  its  own  domain  with  just  title.  Wyndham:  I  retain  "their,"  and 
suggest  that  "Intitled"  —  a  contraction  formed  according  to  the  poet's  usage 
from  "Intituled"  —  "parts,"  and  "crowned"  may  all  three  be  explained  by 
reference  to  contemporary  terms  of  heraldry.  .  .  .  Guillim  {A  Display  of 
Heraldrie,  1610)  has  a  table  of  the  science.  The  skill  of  Armoury  is  divided 
into  (i)  Accidents  and  (ii)  Parts;  and,  without  pursuing  all  the  sub-heads 
under  Parts,  I  may  sum  them  up,  generally,  by  saying  that  Parts  =  the  tech- 
nical term  for  the  places  in  a  shield  on  which  armorial  devices  are  borne.  .  .  . 
After  dealing  with  the  Wreath  and  Cap  of  Dignity,  he  goes  on  to  "other  sorts 
of  Crownes."  ...  I  take  it,  therefore,  that  the  passage  =  Be  it  beauty,  birth  or 
wealth  or  wit  which  is  displayed  —  as,  in  an  achievement  beneath  the  Crown, 
charges  are  blazoned  each  in  its  part  of  the  coat-armour  —  "I  make  my  love 
ingrafted  to  this  store,"  =  your  worth  and  truth.  [Wyndham  goes  on  to  cite 
a  further  passage  in  which  Guillim  notes  "four  parts"  of  nobility:  riches,  blood, 
learning,  virtue;  which  he  thinks  shows  a  remarkable  coincidence  with  line  5 
of  the  sonnet.]  Beeching:  [The  only  one  of  the  terms  for  which  Wyndham's 
note  furnishes  an  heraldic  meaning  is  "parts."]  "Intituled"  occurs  in  a  more 
or  less  heraldic  passage  in  Lucrece  57,  but  not  in  any  technically  heraldic  sense. 
. .  .  Similarly  in  L.  L.  L.,  V,  ii,  822, 

If  this  thou  do  deny,  let  our  hands  part 
Neither  intitled  in  the  other's  heart, 

it  means  "having  a  claim  to."  Here  it  may  be  used  absolutely,  "in  thy  parts" 
being  construed  with  "crowned";  or  perhaps  "in  thy  parts"  is  constructed 
with  both.   "These  excellences  sit  crowned  in  thy  various  parts  to  which  they 


xxxvn]      THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  103 

have  a  claim."  Lee:  Probably  "ennobled  in  thee";  deriving  (titles  of)  honour 
from  association  with  thy  capacities. 

10.  shadow  .  .  .  substance.  Wyndham:  Sh.  takes  the  two  terms  from  the 
philosophy  of  his  day  and  uses  them  for  poetical  effect,  as  modern  essayists 
take  terms  from  modern  philosophy,  e.g., "objective"  and  "subjective,"  and 
use  them  in  criticism.  Cf.  M.  W.  W.,  II,  ii,  215,  "Love  like  a  shadow  flies  when 
substance  love  pursues";  M.V.,  III,  ii,  128,  "The  substance  of  my  praise  doth 
wrong  this  shadow";  R.  2,  II,  ii,  14,  "Each  substance  of  a  grief  hath  twenty 
shadows."  .  .  .  "Shadow"  and  "reflexion"  were  used  by  Renaissance  Plato- 
nists  as  alternative  metaphors  in  expounding  Plato's  doctrine  that  Beauty 
which  we  see  is  the  copy  of  an  eternal  pattern,  —  Giordano  Bruno  had  dis- 
coursed in  Paris  de  Umbris  Idearum;  or,  rather,  they  use  "shadow"  where  we 
should  use  "reflexion."  Cf.  Hoby,  The  4th  Booke  of  the  Courtyer,  1561:  "Let 
us  clime  up  the  stayers,  which  at  the  lowermost  stepp  have  the  shadowe  of 
sensual  beauty  " ;  .  .  .  and  Spenser,  Hymn  in  Honour  of  Beauty 

Do  still  preserve  your  first  informed  grace 
Whose  shadow  yet  shines  in  your  beauteous  face. 

...  So  does  Sh.  employ  "shadow,"  even  apart  from  any  philosophical  signifi- 
cance, to  mean  only  the  "projection  of  likeness,"  and  not  the  obscuring  of  light. 
...  He  also  uses  the  term,  here  and  elsewhere  in  the  Sonnets,  with  less,  or  with 
more,  approximation  to  the  metaphysic  use  from  which  it  was  borrowed. 
[Cf.  43,  5-7;  53,  1-4,  10;  67,  7-8;  98,  14.  Cf.  also  Drayton's  sonnet  "To  the 
Shadow"  (S.  13,  ed.  1619).]  [This  interesting  note  of  Wyndham's,  like  others 
of  his  on  platonistic  elements  in  Sh.'s  poems,  is  well  worthy  of  study,  yet  tends 
to  err  on  the  side  of  mystical  complexity.  Whether  Sh.'s  use  of  "shadow"  in 
the  meaning  opposed  to  "substance"  was  a  derivation,  direct  or  indirect,  from 
the  language  of  philosophy,  we  scarcely  have,  as  yet,  information  to  enable  us 
to  say  with  certainty;  but  even  so,  his  use  of  it  is  noticeably  lacking  in  the 
mystical  note  characteristic  (for  example)  of  Spenser,  as  in  the  passage  quoted 
above.  Beeching's  statement  represents  the  simple  fact:]  Often  in  Sh.  con- 
trasted with  "substance"  to  express  the  particular  sort  of  unreality  of  which 
"substance"  expresses  the  reality.  Walsh:  Cf.  Lilly,  Campaspe,  IV,  iv:  "Yet 
shall  it  [thy  ^/cture]  fill  mine  eye:  besides  the  sweet  thoughts,  the  sure  hopes, 
thy  protested  faith,  will  cause  me  to  embrace  thy  shadow  continually  in  my 
arms,  of  the  which  by  strong  imagination  I  will  make  a  substance." 

Drake:  [When  Sh.  wrote  this  sonnet,  only]  a  small  portion  of  the  fame  and 
property  which  he  afterwards  enjoyed  could  have  fallen  to  his  share.   (2:  50.) 


104  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE     [xxxvm 

38 

How  can  my  Muse  want  subiect  to  inuent 

While  thou  dost  breath  that  poor'st  into  my  verse, 

Thine  owne  sweet  argument,  to  excellent, 

For  euery  vulgar  paper  to  rehearse: 

Oh  giue  thy  selfe  the  thankes  if  ought  in  me,  5 

Worthy  perusal  stand  against  thy  sight, 

For  who's  so  dumbe  that  cannot  write  to  thee, 

When  thou  thy  selfe  dost  giue  inuention  light? 

Be  thou  the  tenth  Muse,  ten  times  more  in  worth  9 

Then  those  old  nine  which  rimers  inuocate, 

And  he  that  calls  on  thee,  let  him  bring  forth 

Eternal  numbers  to  out-liue  long  date. 

If  my  slight  Muse  doe  please  these  curious  daies, 
The  paine  be  mine,  but  thine  shal  be  the  praise. 

2.  poor'st]  powr'st  1640;  poufst  G,  etc. 

3.  to]  too  1640,  G,  etc. 

4.  rehearse :]  rehearse  ?  G2,  S2,  etc. 

7.  dumbe]  dull  G,  S,  E. 

Tyler:  This  sonnet  may  be  regarded  as  bringing  to  a  close  33-38. 

Lee:  The  central  conceit  here  so  finely  developed  —  that  the  patron  may 
claim  as  his  own  handiwork  the  protege's  verse  because  he  inspires  it  —  belongs 
to  the  most  conventional  schemes  of  dedicatory  adulation.  When  Daniel,  in 
1592,  inscribed  his  volume  of  sonnets  entitled  Delia  to  the  Countess  of  Pem- 
broke, he  played  in  the  prefatory  sonnet  on  the  same  note,  and  used  in  the  con- 
cluding couplet  almost  the  same  words  as  Sh. : 

Great  patroness  of  these  my  humble  rhymes, 
Which  thou  from  out  thy  greatness  dost  inspire,  .  .  . 
O  leave  not  still  to  grace  thy  work  in  me.  .  .  . 
Whereof  the  travail  I  may  challenge  mine, 
But  yet  the  glory,  madam,  must  be  thine. 

{Life,  p.  129.) 

3.  argument.  Schmidt:  Theme.  [Cf.  76,  10;  79,  5;  100,  8;  103,  3;  105,  9.  — 
Ed.] 

8.  invention.  Schmidt:  Imaginative  faculty,  poetic  fiction. 
9-10.  A.  Hall:  [Cf.  Drayton,  Idea,  S.  18: 


xxxviii]     THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  105 

Three  Nines  there  are,  to  every  one  a  Nine:  .  .  . 
Nine  Muses  do  with  learning  still  frequent;  .  .  . 
My  worthy  one  to  these  nine  worthies  addeth!  .  .  . 
My  Muse,  my  worthy,  and  my  angel  then 
Makes  every  one  of  these  three  nines  a  ten. 

(N.  &  Q.,  6th  s.,  10:62.)] 

11-12.  Tyler:  [This  passage]  must  go  far  towards  fixing  the  sense  of  "the 
onlie  begetter"  [in  the  Dedication].    (Intro.,  p.  14.) 

13.  Tyler:  [One  may  infer]  that  Sh.  intended  the  publication  of  the  first 
series  of  sonnets.  (Intro.,  p.  137.)  Butler:  It  is  plain  that  some,  at  any  rate, 
even  of  these  early  sonnets  were  recited  among  Sh.'s  friends,  and  much  ad- 
mired. 

14.  pain.  [Tyler  notes  that  W.  A.  Harrison  suggested  that  this  may  be 
connected  with  "bring  forth,"  I* II,  — the  pain  of  parturition.] 

[This  is  a  key-sonnet  for  Massey's  "dramatic"  theory,]  the  friend  being 
treated  by  Sh.  as  the  veritable  author  of  future  and  forthcoming  sonnets  that 
are  to  be  presented  to  him,  or  "stand  against  his  sight,"  when  written  in  his 
own  book.    (p.  100.) 

Goedeke  [believes  the  sonnet  to  have  been  addressed  to  Queen  Elizabeth. 
(Deutsche  Rundschau,  10:  386.)] 

Oscar  Wilde  [instances  this  sonnet  in  support  of  his  fancy  that  the  person 
addressed  was  the  boy-actor  for  whom  Sh.  wrote  his  leading*  female  parts. 
(Portrait  of  Mr.  W.  H.t  p.  26.)] 


106  THE   SONNETS   OF  SHAKESPEARE        [xxxix 

39 
Oh  how  thy  worth  with  manners  may  I  singe, 
When  thou  art  all  the  better  part  of  me? 
What  can  mine  owne  praise  to  mine  owne  selfe  bring; 
And  what  is't  but  mine  owne  when  I  praise  thee, 
Euen  for  this,  let  vs  deuided  Hue,  5 

And  our  deare  loue  loose  name  of  single  one, 
That  by  this  seperation  I  may  giue : 
That  due  to  thee  which  thou  deseru'st  alone: 
Oh  absence  what  a  torment  wouldst  thou  proue,  9 

Were  it  not  thy  soure  leisure  gaue  sweet  leaue, 
To  entertaine  the  time  with  thoughts  of  loue, 
Which  time  and  thoughts  so  sweetly  dost  deceiue. 
And  that  thou  teachest  how  to  make  one  twaine, 
By  praising  him  here  who  doth  hence  remaine. 

3.  bring;]  brfhg?  G,  etc. 

4.  thee,]  thee?  L,  etc. 
6.  loose]  lose  G,  etc. 

10.  Were  it  not]  Were't  not  that  G,  S,  E. 

T2.  dost]  doth  M,  etc.  (except  Wy,  Wa);  do  C,  Bo  conj. 

Butler:  [This  sonnet]  appears  to  refer  to  the  separation  that  was  deemed 
expedient  in  36.   (p.  72.) 

2.  better  part  of  me.  Lee:  My  soul.  .  .  .  The  phrase  is  similarly  used  by 
Daniel  (Cleopatra,  594)  and  by  Ovid,  Metam.,  xv,  ad  fin.,  in  Golding's  transla- 
tion.  [Cf.  74,  8,  and  notes.] 

4.  [For  the  theme  of  identity,  see  notes  on  22,  5-7  and  36.]  Henry  Brown: 
Cf.  R.  Davies,  to  his  brother  John  Davies: 

To  praise  thee,  being  what  I  am  to  thee, 

Were  (in  effect)  to  dispraise  thee  and  me; 

For  who  doth  praise  himself  deserves  dispraise; 

Thou  art  myself,  then  thee  I  may  not  praise,     (p.  175.) 

8.  That  due.  Cf.  31,  12. 

12.  M alone:  Which,  viz.,  "entertaining  the  time  with  thoughts  of  love," 
doth  so  agreeably  beguile  the  tediousness  of  absence.  .  .  .  There  is  nothing  to 
which  "dost"  can  refer.  The  change  being  so  small,  I  have  placed  "doth"  in 


xxxix]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  107 

the  text.  Boswell:  "  Does"  would  be  nearer  the  original  reading;  but  I  rather 
think  it  should  be  "do,"  making  of  "thoughts"  the  nominative  case.  Collier: 
[Possibly  "dost"  is  right.]  Wyndham:  I  retain  the  Q  text,  for  the  construction 
in  the  2d  person  singular,  which  begins  with  the  apostrophe  to  absence  in  line  9, 
recurs,  with  absence  again  as  the  subject,  in  line  13.  It  is,  therefore,  I  think, 
rightly  maintained  in  line  12,  where  the  ellipsis  of  a  "thou"  presents  no  diffi- 
culty, being  immediately  supplemented  by  "And  that  thou"  of  line  13.  .  .  . 
"Which  time  and  thoughts  (of  love)  thou  (absence)  dost  so  sweetly  deceive." 
"Deceive"  here  does  not  mean  to  "mislead,"  .  .  .  but  "to  cause  to  fail  in 
fulfilment  or  realization"  {Imp.  Diet.),  to  defraud,  defeat,  undo,  make  vain. 
[Cf.  T.  &  C,  V,  iii,  90:  "Thou  dost  thyself  and  all  our  Troy  deceive,"  where 
the  meaning  is  "undo."  Absence,  then,  while  helping  to  pass  time  sweetly,] 
does  defraud  and  make  vain  time.  [This  is  ingenious  but  unconvincing,  when 
one  considers  the  difficulty  of  the  omitted  "thou,"  and  the  more  serious  objec- 
tion that  the  whole  purport  of  the  passage  is  the  compensations  of  absence.  — 
Ed.]  [Miss  Porter  of  course  favors  the  Q  text,  observing  that  "which"]  is 
not  relative,  but  demonstrative,  referring  to  the  time  and  thoughts  that 
Absence  doth  so  sweetly  deceive. 

13.  Dowden:  Absence  teaches  how  to  make  of  the  absent  beloved  two  per- 
sons, one  absent  in  reality,  the  other  present  to  imagination.  Butler:  Cf. 
Phoenix  &  Turtle  [quoted  under  S.  36]. 

14.  Steevens:  Cf.  A.  fif  C,  I,  iii,  102-04: 

Our  separation  so  abides,  and  flies, 

That  thou,  residing  here,  goes  yet  with  me, 

And  I,  hence  fleeting,  here  remain  with  thee. 


108  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xl 

40 

Take  all  my  loues,  my  loue,  yea  take  them  all, 
What  hast  thou  then  more  then  thou  hadst  before? 
No  loue,  my  loue,  that  thou  maist  true  loue  call, 
All  mine  was  thine,  before  thou  hadst  this  more: 
Then  if  for  my  loue,  thou  my  loue  receiuest,  5 

I  cannot  blame  thee,  for  my  loue  thou  vsest, 
But  yet  be  blam'd,  if  thou  this  selfe  deceauest 
By  wilfull  taste  of  what  thy  selfe  refusest. 
I  doe  forgiue  thy  robb'rie  gentle  theefe  9 

Although  thou  steale  thee  all  my  pouerty: 
And  yet  loue  knowes  it  is  a  greater  griefe 
To  beare  loues  wrong,  then  hates  knowne  iniury. 
Lasciuious  grace,  in  whom  all  il  wel  showes, 
Kill  me  with  spights  yet  we  must  not  be  foes. 

6-8.  vsest .  .  .  refusest]  usedst  .  .  .  refusedst  But. 
7.  this  selfe]  thy  self  G,  S;  thyself  E,  M,  etc.  (except  Wy,  Bull,  Wa). 
rt.  yet]  yet,  Kt,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Cam,  Hu2,  R,  Wh2,  Ox,  etc.  knowes]  knows, 
C,  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Cam,  R,  Wh2,  Ty,  Wy,  But, 
Her,  N,  Bull,  Wa. 
14.  spights]  spight  G1,  S1;  spite  G2,  S2,  E. 

[This  and  the  two  following  sonnets  should  be  read  in  connection  with  133- 
134  and  144,  which  are  commonly  supposed  to  have  reference  to  the  same  situa- 
tion. Whether  they  are  also  closely  related  to  33-35  there  is  more  uncertainty. 
Beeching  infers  such  a  relation,  after  the  irrelevant  contents  of  the  interven- 
ing sonnets,  by  the  rather  violent  assumption  that  the  offence  of  the  friend 
"has  been  repeated  during  the  poet's  absence  referred  to  in  39,  9."  On  the 
nature  of  the  situation  here  represented,  and  especially  the  complaisant  atti- 
tude of  the  poet,  there  have  been  very  divergent  comments.  On  the  whole, 
Wyndham's  note  under  S.  33  seems  to  me  to  take  the  most  rational  point  of 
view.  —  Ed.] 

Hallam  [finds  the  apparent  situation  of  the  poet  to  be  humiliating,  especially 
from  his  failure  to  resent,  though  he  "felt  and  bewailed"  the  seduction  of  his 
mistress.  {Lit.  of  Europe,  Pt.  3,  ch.  5,  §  49.)]  [To  Gildemeister  the  group  of 
sonnets  seems  to  be  fatal  to  the  biographical  interpretation:]  Can  one  seriously 
believe  that  this  took  place  and  that  —  what  is  still  more  incredible  —  such 
an  occurrence  was  related  to  the  salons  of  London,  in  rhymed  conceits,  by  the 


xl]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  109 

deceived  lover  himself?  (p.  163.)  Furnivall  [quotes  with  approval,  with 
special  reference  to  the  matter  of  the  forgiveness  of  the  wrong,  a  passage  com- 
municated to  him  by  one  M.  J.:]  There  are  some  men  who  love  for  the  sake  of 
what  love  yields,  and  of  these  was  Lord  Bacon;  and  there  are  some  who  love 
for  "love's  sake,"  and  loving  once,  love  always;  and  of  these  was  Sh.  These  do 
not  lightly  give  their  love,  but  once  given,  their  faith  is  incorporated  with  their 
being;  and  having  become  part  of  themselves,  to  part  with  that  part  would  be 
to  be  dismembered.  Therefore  if  change  or  sin  corrupt  the  engrafted  limb,  the 
only  effect  is  that  the  whole  body  is  shaken  with  anguish.  .  .  .  The  offending 
member  may  be  nursed  into  health,  or  loved  into  life  again;  but  forsaken!  — 
never!  (Intro.,  p.  lxiv.)  Lee:  The  definite  element  of  intrigue  that  is  devel- 
oped here  is  not  found  anywhere  else  in  the  range  of  Elizabethan  sonnet- 
literature.  [Those  familiar  with  Sir  Sidney  Lee's  sonnet  criticism  will  not  fail 
to  appreciate  the  courageous  frankness  of  this  admission.  —  Ed.]  The  charac- 
ter of  the  innovation  and  its  treatment  seem  only  capable  of  explanation  by 
regarding  it  as  a  reflection  of  Sh.'s  personal  experience.  ...  If  all  the  words  be 
taken  literally,  there  is  disclosed  an  act  of  self-sacrifice  that  it  is  difficult  to 
parallel  or  explain.  But  it  remains  very  doubtful  if  the  affair  does  not  rightly 
belong  to  the  annals  of  gallantry.  The  sonneteer's  complacent  condonation 
of  the  young  man's  offence  chiefly  suggests  the  deference  that  was  essential  to 
the  maintenance  by  a  dependent  of  peaceful  relations  with  a  self-willed  and 
self-indulgent  patron.  {Life,  p.  154.)  [Later,  however,  in  the  notes  to  his  edi- 
tion of  Sh.,  Lee  treats  the  situation  even  here  as  at  least  partially  conventional :] 
The  rivalry  here  indicated  in  the  poet's  heart  between  friendship  with  a  man 
and  love  for  a  woman  is  no  uncommon  theme  of  Renaissance  poetry.  Petrarch 
(S.  227)  confesses  to  the  double  sentiment: 

Carita  di  signore,  amor  di  donna 
Son  le  catene,  ove  con  multi  affanni 
Legato  son,  perch 'io  stesso  mi  strinsi. 

Cf.  Beza's  Poemata,  1548,  Epigrammata,  90:  "De  sua  in  Candidam  et  Aude- 
bertum  benevolentia."  Clement  Marot  in  a  poetic  address  "A  celle  qui  souhaita 
Marot  aussi  amoureux  d'elle  qu'un  sien  Amy"  (CEuvres,  1565,  p.  437),  describ- 
ing his  solicitation  in  love  by  a  friend's  mistress,  diagnoses  a  like  conflict  of 
emotions. 

J.  M.  S.  [in  the  Spectator  (Dec.  3,  1898,  p.  830),  cites  as  a  parallel  to  the  situ- 
ation and  attitude  represented  in  these  sonnets,  a  letter  written  by  St.  Evre- 
mond  to  his  unfaithful  mistress:]  "Peut-etre  ne  savez-vous  pas,  que  si  je  n'ose 
me  plaindre  de  vous,  pour  vous  aimer  trop,  je  n'oserais  me  plaindre  de  lui,  pour 
ne  l'aimer  guere  moins:  et  s'il  faut  de  necessite  me  mettre  en  colere,  apprenez- 
moi  contre  qui  je  me  dois  f&cher  davantage;  ou  contre  lui,  qui  m'enleve  une 
maitresse,  ou  contre  vous  qui  me  volez  un  ami.  .  .  .  J'aime  le  perfide,  j'aime 
l'infidele,  et  crains  seulement  qu'un  ami  sincere  ne  soit  mal  avec  tous  les  deux." 
Walsh:  Whether  this  is  a  real  or  an  imaginary  episode  cannot  be  determined 
from  the  sonnets  themselves.   A  dramatic  poet  like  Sh.  was  perfectly  capable 


no  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xl 

of  inventing  the  incident  and  writing  about  it  as  if  actual.  There  is  some  sim- 
ilarity with  the  plot  of  T.  G.  V.  (supposed  to  have  been  written  in  1592-93), 
and  also,  in  places,  with  the  language  of  that  play.  Bradley:  Hallam's 
explanation  of  [the  poet's  attitude]  as  perhaps  due  to  the  exalted  position  of  the 
friend,  would  make  it  much  more  than  unpleasant;  and  his  language  seems  to 
show  that  he,  like  many  critics,  did  not  fully  imagine  the  situation.  ...  It  is 
necessary  to  realise  that,  whatever  the  friend's  rank  might  be,  he  and  the  poet 
were  intimate  friends;  that,  manifestly,  it  was  rather  the  mistress  who  seduced 
the  friend  than  the  friend  the  mistress;  and  that  she  was  apparently  a  woman 
not  merely  of  no  reputation,  but  of  such  a  nature  that  she  might  readily  be 
expected  to  be  mistress  to  two  men  at  one  and  the  same  time.  Anyone  who 
realises  this  may  call  the  situation  "humiliating"  in  one  sense,  and  I  cannot 
quarrel  with  him;  but  he  will  not  call  it  "humiliating"  in  respect  of  Sh.'s  rela- 
tion to  his  friend;  nor  will  he  wonder  much  that  the  poet  felt  more  pain  than 
resentment  at  his  friend's  treatment  of  him..  There  is  something  infinitely 
stranger  in  a  play  of  Sh.'s,  [the  forgiveness  of  Proteus  by  Valentine  in  T.  G.  V.] 
.  .  .  The  incident  is  to  us  so  utterly  preposterous  that  we  find  it  hard  to  imagine 
how  the  audience  stood  it;  but,  even  if  we  conjecture  that  Sh.  adopted  it  from 
the  story  he  was  using,  we  can  hardly  suppose  that  it  was  so  absurd  to  him  as 
it  is  to  us.  And  it  is  not  the  Sonnets  alone  which  lead  us  to  surmise  that  for- 
giveness was  particularly  attractive  to  him,  and  the  forgiveness  of  a  friend  much 
easier  than  resentment.    {Lectures  on  Poetry,  pp.  334-35.) 

5.  Dowden:  If  for  love  of  me  thou  receivest  her  whom  I  love.  [So  Rolfe 
and  Tyler.]  Wyndham:  If  in  place  of  my  love  for  you,  you- accept  the  woman 
I  love.  Cf.  42,  9.  Beeching:  ["For  my  love"  means]  as  being  my  love,  to 
which  you  have  a  right.  [I  think  Wyndham's  explanation  decidedly  the  most 
probable.  —  Ed.] 

6.  usest.  Butler,  [in  support  of  hisemendation  here  and  in  line  8,  observes:] 
A  man  cannot  "wilfully"  taste  what  at  the  same  time  he  is  refusing.  If  my 
text  is  admitted,  the  sense  will  be,  "Do  not  blame  me  if  you  find  this  lady 
troublesome;  you  refused  her  for  some  time,  and  it  is  nobody's  doing  but  your 
own  that  you  now  take  up  with  her." 

7.  this  selfe.  Wyndham,  [defending  the  Q  text,  explains:]  The  poet;  must 
be  interpreted  in  connexion  with  the  identity  of  himself  and  the  friend  stated 
in  39,  1-4,  and  restated  in  42,  13-14.  [Cf.  also  133,  6  and  135,  14.]  .  .  .  "This 
self"  =  the  poet  is  distinguished  from  "thy  self"  =  the  friend  of  line  8;  and 
this  distinction  of  two  persons  who  are  one  self  is  in  harmony  with  the  conceit 
which  runs  through  the  four  numbers.  Porter:  ["This  self"]  is  the  poet's  and 
the  beloved's  very  self,  their  unity,  their  joint  "dear  love"  (39,  6). 

8.  Dowden:  Deceive  yourself  by  an  unlawful  union  while  you  refuse  loyal 
wedlock.  Wyndham:  Wilfully  tasting  "my  love"  =  my  mistress,  while  you, 
the  other  self,  refuse  "my  love"  =  my  love  for  you.  Tyler,  [apparently  follow- 
ing Dowden's  interpretation,  thinks  the  passage  may  refer  to  the  breaking  off 
by  William  Herbert  of  his  proposed  marriage  with  Lady  Vere.   (Intro.,  p.  47.)] 


xl]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  in 

Beeching:  Perhaps  means  "by  taking  in  wilfulness  my  mistress  whom  yet 
you  do  not  love."  Stopes:  The  youth  has  refused  the  advice  of  the  early 
sonnets,  and  now  fears  not  "the  mortal  taste  of  that  forbidden  tree."  Lee: 
"What  thyself  refusest"  [is]  that  lascivious  indulgence  which  thou  in  reality 
disdainest.  [I  can  form  no  notion  of  what  "in  reality"  means  here.  —  Ed.] 
Porter:  Wilful  taste  of  such  other  kinds  of  love  as  the  beloved  himself  refuses 
to  their  higher  kind  of  love;  i.e.,  shallow  physical  intercourse. 

io.  poverty.  [The  reading  "property,"  in  a  German  edition  of  1864,  is 
almost  worthy  to  be  set  beside  the  emendation,  "Sermons  in  books,  stones  in 
running  brooks."  —  Ed.] 

13.  Cf.  S.  95,  and  150,  5-8. 

Butler  [finds  in  this  sonnet  a  hint,  given  to  Mr.  W.  H.  by  Sh.,]  that  he 
may  very  possibly  find  the  lady  not  all  that  he  could  wish. 

Von  Mauntz  [believes  that  the  sonnet  was  addressed  by  a  woman  to  a  man, 
the  only  interpretation  which  seems  credible  or  natural.   (Jahrb.,  28:  277.)] 


U2  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xli 

4i 
Those  pretty  wrongs  that  liberty  commits, 
When  I  am  some-time  absent  from  thy  heart, 
Thy  beautie,  and  thy  yeares  full  well  befits, 
For  still  temptation  followes  where  thou  art. 
Gentle  thou  art,  and  therefore  to  be  wonne,  5 

Beautious  thou  art,  therefore  to  be  assailed. 
And  when  a  woman  woes,  what  womans  sonne, 
Will  sourely  leaue  her  till  he  haue  preuailed. 
Aye  me,  but  yet  thou  mighst  my  seate  forbeare,  9 

And  chide  thy  beauty,  and  thy  straying  youth, 
Who  lead  thee  in  their  ryot  euen  there 
Where  thou  art  forst  to  breake  a  two-fold  truth : 
Hers  by  thy  beauty  tempting  her  to  thee, 
Thine  by  thy  beautie  beeing  false  to  me. 

1.  pretty]  petty  B,  Hu1,  Dy1,  Del3,  But. 

2.  some-time]  sometimes  1640,  G,  S,  E,  Ox. 

3.  befits]  befit  G2,  S2,  E. 

6.  therefore]  and  therefore  G1,  S,  E. 

7.  woes]  wooes  1640,  M;  woos  G,  S,  E,  Bo,  etc. 

8.  he]  she  Tyr  conj.,  M,  etc.  (except  Co3,  Wy).  haue]  has  E;  gave  Del1 
[error],  preuailed.]  prevailed?  G,  etc.  (except  M,  A,  Co,  B,  Hal). 

9.  Aye]  Ah  E,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Sta,  CI,  Kly,  Hal,  Ty.  mighst] 
mights t  1640,  G,  etc.  my  seate]  my  sweet  (between  commas)  M,  Hu1,  But,  Wa; 
my  state  Del  conj. 

3.  befits.  [For  the  singular  form  with  plural  subject,  see  Abbott,  §  333:] 
In  some  cases  the  subject-noun  may  be  considered  as  singular  in  thought;  .  .  . 
in  other  cases  the  quasi-singular  verb  precedes  the  plural  object  [error  for 
subject  —  Ed.];  and  again,  in  others  the  verb  has  for  its  nominative  two  singu- 
lar nouns  or  an  antecedent  to  a  plural  noun.  [Such  instances]  indicate  a  gen- 
eral predilection  for  the  inflection  in  -s  which  may  well  have  arisen  from  the 
northern  E.  E.  3d  person  plural  in  -s. 

5-6.  Steevens:  Cf.  1  H.  6,  V,  iii,  78-9: 

She's  beautiful  and  therefore  to  be  woo'd; 
She  is  a  woman,  therefore  to  be  won.     • 

Lee:  Cf.  T.  And.,  II,  ii,  82-83: 


xli]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  113 

She  is  a  woman,  therefore  may  be  woo'd; 
She  is  a  woman,  therefore  may  be  won; 

and  Greene's  Orpharion,  1599  (Works,  Grosart,  12:  31):  "She  is  but  a  woman, 
and  therefore  to  be  won." 

8.  he.  [See  textual  notes.]  Malone:  The  poet  without  doubt  wrote  "she." 
Dowden:  [The  Q  reading]  may  be  right.  Wyndham:  The  Q  reading  is  more 
subtile  in  sense  and  more  musical  in  sound. 

9.  Aye.  [The  change  to  "Ah"  is  quite  unwarranted.  Cf.  V.  &  A.,  187,  833; 
Lucrece,  1167;  L.C.,  321.  —  Ed.]  seate.  Malone  [defends  his  emendation  by 
various  passages  where  "sweet"  or  "my  sweet"  is  used  in  direct  address]. 
Boswell:  Mr.  Boaden  is  of  opinion  that  the  context  shews  the  original  word 
to  be  right.  Iago,  as  he  observes,  uses  the  word  "seat "  with  the  same  meaning : 
["I  do  suspect  the  lusty  Moor  hath  leap'd  into  my  seat."  (Oth.,  II,  i,  305.)] 
Dowden:  Dr.  Ingleby  adds,  as  a  parallel,  Lucrece,  412-13: 

Who,  like  a  foul  usurper,  went  about 

From  this  fair  throne  to  heave  the  owner  out. 

H.  D.  Gray:  The  word  "thy"  occurs  seven  times  in  this  sonnet,  and  is  never 
misprinted  "their."  The  theory  that  it  was  included  in  a  MS.  where  this  mis- 
take was  so  frequently  made  as  to  be  almost  a  prevailing  one  must  be  reexam- 
ined.  [See  note  on  26,  12.  —  Ed.] 

Beeching:  Sometimes  the  [Shakespearean]  sonnet  falls  not  into  three  parts 
but  into  two,  the  break  coming,  after  the  Italian  manner,  at  the  end  of  the  8th 
line.  Examples  are  41  and  44,  in  both  of  which,  as  is  natural  under  the  circum- 
stances, the  couplet  becomes  part  of  the  sestet,  though  it  is  left  as  detached  as 
possible.  (Intro.,  p.  liii.)  [S.  39  is  precisely  similar  in  these  respects,  and  29  and 
33  for  the  importance  of  the  pause  at  the  end  of  the  second  quatrain.  —  Ed.] 


ii4  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xlii 

42 
That  thou  hast  her  it  is  not  all  my  griefe, 
And  yet  it  may  be  said  I  lou'd  her  deerely, 
That  she  hath  thee  is  of  my  wayling  cheefe, 
A  losse  in  loue  that  touches  me  more  neerely. 
Louing  offendors  thus  I  will  excuse  yee,  5 

Thou  doost  loue  her,  because  thou  knowst  I  loue  her, 
And  for  my  sake  euen  so  doth  she  abuse  me, 
Suffring  my  friend  for  my  sake  to  approoue  her, 
If  I  loose  thee,  my  losse  is  my  loues  gaine,  9 

And  loosing  her,  my  friend  hath  found  that  losse, 
Both  finde  each  other,  and  I  loose  both  twaine, 
And  both  for  my  sake  lay  on  me  this  crosse, 
But  here's  the  ioy,  my  friend  and  I  are  one, 
Sweete  flattery,  then  she  loues  but  me  alone. 

6.  knowst]  knew'st  Bo,  A,  Kt,  B. 
9,  11.  loose]  lose  G,  etc. 

10.  loosing]  losing  G,  etc. 

7.  abuse.  Schmidt:  Maltreat.  [Cf.  134,  12.  But  there  may  be  a  suggestion 
here,  too,  of  the  common  Elizabethan  meaning  "deceive."  —  Ed.] 

8.  approove.  Schmidt:  Like.  [Since  the  word,  in  Sh.,  practically  always 
implies  a  moral  or  mental  judgment,  when  used  in  the  sense  "like"  or  "be 
pleased  with,"  I  am  disposed  to  think  it  is  here  used  in  the  sense  of  "make 
trial  of."  —  Ed.] 

9.  my  loves.  M alone:  [My  mistress's.] 
9-10.  Walsh:  Cf.  T.  G.  V.,  II,  vi,  20-21: 

If  I  keep  them,  I  needs  must  lose  myself. 
If  I  lose  them,  thus  find  I  by  their  loss,  etc. 

But  there  the  friend  is  not  identified  with  the  speaker,  —  far  from  it,  as  yet; 
for  the  latter  continues,  "I  to  myself  am  dearer  than  a  friend."  Later,  how- 
ever, he  makes  the  renunciation. 

10-12.  losse  .  .  .  crosse.  Dowden:  The  "loss"  and  "cross"  of  these  lines 
are  spoken  of  in  S.  34. 

13.  See  notes  on  22,  5-7. 

Price  [comments  on  the  effective  use  of  monosyllabic  verse  in  this  and  the 
two  following  sonnets,    (p.  367.)   He  also  observes  that  this  sonnet  is  one  of 


xliii]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  115 

those  in  which]  the  poetic  quality  lies  solely  or  almost  solely  in  the  melody  of 
verse,  in  the  refined  and  accurate  choice  of  words,  and  in  the  emotional  interest 
of  the  psychological  problem,  [without  figure  or  other  imaginative  decoration.] 
VYithout  introducing  a  single  image  of  natural  beauty,  [the  sonnet]  shows  the 
dramatic  poet  dealing,  in  verses  of  lovely  form  and  arrangement,  with  a  dra- 
matic situation  of  most  curious  dramatic  interest,    (p.  374.) 

Harris:  This  sonnet,  with  its  affected  word-play  and  wire-drawn  consola- 
tion, leaves  one  gaping:  Sh.'s  verbal  affectations  had  got  into  his  very  blood. 
To  my  mind  the  whole  sonnet  is  too  extravagant  to  be  sincere.  .  .  .  None  of  it 
rings  true  except  the  first  couplet.  (The  Man  Sh.,  p.  238.)  [Cf.  Wyndham's 
note  on  S.  33.  —  Ed.] 

43 
When  most  I  winke  then  doe  mine  eyes  best  see, 
For  all  the  day  they  view  things  vnrespected, 
But  when  I  sleepe,  in  dreames  they  looke  on  thee, 
And  darkely  bright,  are  bright  in  darke  directed. 
Then  thou  whose  shaddow  shaddowes  doth  make  bright,         5 
How  would  thy  shadowes  forme,  forme  happy  show, 
To  the  cleere  day  with  thy  much  cleerer  light, 
When  to  vn-seeing  eyes  thy  shade  shines  so? 
How  would  (I  say)  mine  eyes  be  blessed  made,  9 

By  looking  on  thee  in  the  liuing  day? 
When  in  dead  night  their  faire  imperfect  shade, 
Through  heauy  sleepe  on  sightlesse  eyes  doth  stay? 
All  dayes  are  nights  to  see  till  I  see  thee, 
And  nights  bright  daies  when  dreams  do  shew  thee  me. 

11.  their]  thy  C,  M,  etc.       faire  imperfect]  Hyphened  by  Walker  conj. 
13.  to  see]  to  me  M  conj.,  Hu2,  But. 

13-14.  I  see  thee  .  .  .  thee  me]  /  thee  see  .  .  .  me  thee  Taylor  conj. (MS.); 
thee  I  see  ...  me  thee  Lettsom  conj.,  Hu2. 

This  is  one  of  the  sonnets  omitted  from  the  Poems  of  1640  and  the  editions 
based  thereon. 

[For  the  theme,  cf.  notes  on  S.  27;  cf.  also  S.  61.   To  the  analogous  passages 
cited  heretofore,  Massey  (p.  77)  adds,  for  this  sonnet,  Sidney's  A.  &  S.,  38:] 
This  night,  while  sleep  begins  with  heavy  wings 
To  hatch  mine  eyes,  and  that  unbitted  thought 
Doth  fall  to  stray,  and  my  chief  powers  are  brought 


n6  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xliii 

To  leave  the  sceptre  of  all  subject  things: 

The  first  that  straight  my  fancy's  error  brings 

Unto  my  mind,  is  Stella's  image;  wrought 

By  Love's  own  self;  [etc.] 

[See  also  the  following  sonnet,  39:  "Come  Sleep!  O  Sleep!"  —  Ed.] 

1.  winke.  Schmidt:  Shut  the  eyes,  or  have  them  shut.   [Cf.  56,  6.] 

2.  unrespect*ed.  M alone:  Unregarded.   [Cf.  54,  10.  —  Ed.] 

4.  darkely  bright.  Dowden:  Illumined,  although  closed.  Tyler:  Bright, 
though  not  seeing.  [Is  it  possible  that  the  phrase  may  mean  that  the  eyes  are 
bright  most  of  all  in  the  dark,  because  of  what  they  see  in  dreams?  —  Ed.] 
bright  in  darke  directed.  Dowden:  Are  clearly  directed  in  the  darkness. 
Tyler:  Become  bright  through  the  vision  of  the  loved  image,  when  ...  di- 
rected in  the  darkness.  Wyndham:  In  the  dark  they  heed  that  on  which  they 
are  fixed.  Lee:  Guided  in  the  dark  by  the  brightness  [of  thy  "shadow"].  [The 
late  Professor  A.  G.  Newcomer  explained  the  phrase:  "Directed  toward  that 
which  is  bright  in  the  dark,"  bright-in-dark  having  the  effect  of  an  adverb.  — 
Ed.] 

5.  Dowden:  Whose  image  makes  bright  the  shades  of  night.  Tyler:  Cf. 
27,  11-12. 

11.  their.  [Miss  Porter  stands  alone  in  wishing  to  keep  the  Q  reading  here. 
According  to  her,  the  word]  refers  to  "eyes"  —  the  "shade"  or  shadow  of  the 
eyes'  sight,  imperfect.   Tyler:  As  being  a  mere  insubstantial  image. 

13.  to  see.  Malone:  We  should  perhaps  read  "to  me."  The  compositor 
might  have  caught  the  word  "see"  from  the  end  of  the  line.  Steevens:  As 
"fair  to  see"  .  .  .  signifies  "fair  to  sight,"  so  "all  days  are  nights  to  see"  means 
"all  days  are  gloomy  to  behold,"  i.e.,  look  like  nights.  Dowden:  "To  see  till  I 
see  thee  "  is  probably  right  in  this  sonnet,  which  has  a  more  than  common  fancy 
for  doubling  a  word  in  the  same  line. 

[For  this  matter  of  word  repetition,  cf.  Sarrazin's  note  on  S.  4.] 

13-14.  Von  Mauntz:  Cf.  Ovid,  Tristia,  III,  iii,  18:  "Nulla  venit  sine  te 
nox  mihi,  nulla  dies." 

Price  [finds  in  this  sonnet  the  largest  percentage  of  pure  or  native  diction, 
(p.  366.)   See  also  note  on  S.  73.] 

Brandl  [believes  that  the  sonnet  was  addressed  to  a  woman;  and  not  only 
so,  but  identifies  her  as  the  "dark  lady"  on  the  extraordinary  ground  that  she 
is  represented  as  being]  so  dark  that  a  shadow  beside  her  seems  bright,   (p.  xi.) 


xliv]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  117 

44 
If  the  dull  substance  of  my  flesh  were  thought, 
Iniurious  distance  should  not  stop  my  way, 
For  then  dispight  of  space  I  would  be  brought, 
From  limits  farre  remote,  where  thou  doost  stay, 
No  matter  then  although  my  foote  did  stand  5 

Vpon  the  farthest  earth  remoou'd  from  thee, 
For  nimble  thought  can  iumpe  both  sea  and  land, 
As  soone  as  thinke  the  place  where  he  would  be. 
But  ah,  thought  kills  me  that  I  am  not  thought  9 

To  leape  large  lengths  of  miles  when  thou  art  gone% 
But  that  so  much  of  earth  and  water  wrought, 
I  must  attend,  times  leasure  with  my  mone. 
Receiuing  naughts  by  elements  so  sloe, 
But  heauie  teares,  badges  of  eithers  woe. 

4.  From]  To  G,  S,  E. 
6.  farthest]  furthest  Hu1,  Ox. 

8.  As  soone  as  thinke]  Soon  as  he  thinks  Verity  conj. 
10.  when]  where  Be  conj. 

13.  naughts]  naught  G,  etc. 

14.  woe.]  woe:  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Del,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Kly,  Hu2,  Ty. 

Isaac  [compares  with  this  and  the  following  sonnet  Tasso's  Rime  Amorose, 
16:] 

Donna,  crudel  fortuna,  a  me  ben  vieta 

Seguirvi,  e'n  queste  sponde  or  mi  ritiene, 

Ma  '1  pronto  mio  pensier  non  e  chi  frene, 

Che  sol  riposa,  quanto  in  voi  s'acqueta.       (Jahrb.,  17:  185.) 

Massey:  [This  and  45  are  spoken  by  the  traveler  of  the  journey  introduced 
in  50,  when  he  is  at  the  remotest  distance  from  the  friend  at  home.  He  is  on 
distant  shores,  with  vast  spaces  of  earth  and  water  between  him  and  home. 
This  cannot  be  Sh.  (pp.  91,  95.)] 

4.  Massey:  From  "limits  far  remote"  where  I  am,  ...  to  where  thou  dost 
stay.    (p.  140.) 

6.  [Abbott  notes  this  among  his  transpositions  of  adjectival  phrases,  com- 
paring "A  happy  gentleman  in  blood  and  lineaments"  (R.  2,  III,  i,  9)  and  "You 
have  won  a  happy  victory  to  Rome"  (Cor.,  V,  iii,  186).    (§  419  a.)] 


n8  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xliv 

7-8.  Lee:  Sonnets  dealing  in  like  manner  with  thought's  triumph  over  space 
are  very  common  in  Renaissance  poetry.  Cf.  Ronsard,  Amours,  I,  168:  "Ce 
fol  penser,  pour  s'envoler  trop  haut";  Du  Bellay's  Olive,  43:  "Penser  volage,  et 
leger  comme  vent";  Amadis  Jamyn,  S.  21:  "Penser,  qui  peux  en  un  moment 
grande  erre  courir";  and  Tasso's  Rime  (1583,  Venice,  i,  33):  "Come  s'human 
pensier  di  giunger  tenta  al  luogo." 

9.  thought.  Dowden:  Perhaps  "thought"  here  means  melancholy  contem- 
plation, as  in  J.C.,  II,  i,  187,  "Take  thought  and  die  for  Caesar."  [The  refer- 
ence, of  course,  is  to  the  first  occurrence  of  the  word  in  the  line,  the  second 
occurrence  referring  back  to  line  1;  and  surely  there  is  no  need  of  Dowden's 
cautious  "perhaps."  —  Ed.] 

9-10.  McClumpha:  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  II,  v,  4-6: 

Love's  heralds  should  be  thoughts, 
Which  ten  times  faster  glide. than  the  sun's  beams,  [etc.] 

11.  Steevens:  Being  so  thoroughly  compounded  of  these  two  ponderous 
elements.   Cf.  A.  &  C,  V,  ii,  292-93: 

I  am  fire  and  air;  my  other  elements 
I  give  to  baser  life. 

Malone:  Cf.  H.  5,  III,  vii,  22:  "He  is  pure  air  and  fire;  and  the  dull  elements 
of  earth  and  water  never  appear  in  him."  Lee:  [Here  and  in  S.  45]  Sh.  has 
adapted  to  his  own  purpose  a  leading  principle  of  Ovid's  natural  philosophy: 

This  endless  world  contains  therein,  I  say, 
Four  substances  of  which  all  things  are  gendered.   Of  these  four 
The  earth  and  water  for  their  mass  and  weight  are  sunken  lower. 
The  other  couple,  air  and  fire,  the  purer  of  the  twain, 
Mount  up,  and  nought  can  keep  them  down.         [Golding's  version.] 

Such  a  theory  of  the  elements  was  common  knowledge  among  the  medieval 
and  Renaissance  poets;  but  Sh.'s  mode  of  contrasting  the  density  of  earth  and 
water  with  that  of  fire  and  air  sounds  a  peculiarly  Ovidian  note."  (Qu.  Rev.,  210: 

471.) 

14.  Beeching:  Perhaps  the  salt  in  the  tears  represents  the  contribution  of 
the  earth ;  and  so  tears  are  a  badge  of  the  woe  of  both  earth  and  water. 


xlv]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  119 

45 
The  other  two,  slight  ayre,  and  purging  fire, 
Are  both  with  thee,  where  euer  I  abide, 
The  first  my  thought,  the  other  my  desire, 
,        These  present  absent  with  swift  motion  slide. 

For  when  these  quicker  Elements  are  gone  5 

In  tender  Embassie  of  loue  to  thee, 
My  life  being  made  of  foure,  with  two  alone, 
Sinkes  downe  to  death,  opprest  with  melancholic 
Vntill  Hues  composition  be  recured,  9 

By  those  swift  messengers  return'd  from  thee, 
Who  euen  but  now  come  back  againe  assured, 
Of  their  faire  health,  recounting  it  to  me. 
This  told,  I  ioy,  but  then  no  longer  glad, 
I  send  them  back  againe  and  straight  grow  sad. 

4.  present  absent]  present,  absent,  G2,  S,  E;  hyphened  by  M,  etc. 

8.  opprest]  press 'd  C. 

9.  Hues]  live's  G1;  life's  G2,  etc. 
12.  their]  thy  C,  M,  etc. 

Delecluze  [(Dante  Alighieri,  p.  536)  calls  this  sonnet  the  twin  brother  of 
Dante's  22nd  in  the  Vita  Nuova:] 

Gentil  pensiero,  che  parla  di  vui, 
Sen  viene  a  dimorar  meco  sovente, 
E  ragiona  d'amor  si  dolcemente, 
Che  face  consentir  lo  core  in  lui. 

4.  Von  Mauntz:  Cf.  Sidney,  A.  &  S.,  60,  13:  "Whose  presence,  absence; 
absence,  presence  is." 

7.  foure.  Steevens:  Cf.  T.N.,  II,  iii,  10:  "Does  not  our  life  consist  of  the 
four  elements?  " 

8.  melancholic  Walker:  Sh.  was  incapable  of  anything  so  discordant  as 
this.  .  .  .  Ought  "melancholy"  to  be  pronounced  mel'anch'ly?  [This  pronun- 
ciation is  approved  by  Rolfe.  There  is  no  warrant  for  it  in  any  other  of  the 
numerous  occurrences  of  the  word  in  Sh.;  and  while  there  seems  no  escape  from 
something  of  the  kind  here,  we  may  well  suspect  the  finished  character  of  the 
text.  —  Ed.] 

9.  recured.  Schmidt:  Restored  to  health  or  soundness. 

12.  their.  [Even  Miss  Porter  hesitates  to  keep  the  Q  reading  here,  though 
she  believes  it  may  be  right,  referring  to  the  poet's  thought  and  desire.] 


120  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xlvi 

46 

Mine  eye  and  heart  are  at  a  mortall  warre, 

How  to  deuide  the  conquest  of  thy  sight, 

Mine  eye,  my  heart  their  pictures  sight  would  barre, 

My  heart,  mine  eye  the  freeedome  of  that  right, 

My  heart  doth  plead  that  thou  in  him  doost  lye,  5 

(A  closet  neuer  pearst  with  christall  eyes) 

But  the  defendant  doth  that  plea  deny, 

» 

And  sayes  in  him  their  faire  appearance  lyes. 
To  side  this  title  is  impannelled  9 

A  quest  of  thoughts,  all  tennants  to  the  heart, 
And  by  their  verdict  is  determined 
The  cleere  eyes  moyitie,  and  the  deare  hearts  part. 
As  thus,  mine  eyes  due  is  their  outward  part, 
And  my  hearts  right,  their  inward  loue  of  heart. 

3,  8.  their]  thy  C,  M,  etc. 

9.  side]  'cide  G2,  S2,  E,  C,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Wh, 
Cam,  Do,  R,  Ty,  Ox,  But,  Her,  Be;  cide  Dy,  Hal,  Bull. 

13-14.  their  .  .  .  their]  thy  .  .  .  thy  C,  M1,  Gl,  Dy2,  Hu2,  R,  Wh2,  Wy,  Her, 
Be,  N,  Bull,  Wa;  thine  .  .  .  thine  M2,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Hu1,  Del,  Dy1,  Sta,  CI, 
Kly,  Wh1,  Hal,  Cam,  Do,  Ty,  Ox,  But. 

Isaac  [thinks  that  this  sonnet  follows  S.  24  directly.    In  the  latter]  the  eye 
of  the  poet  had  painted  the  portrait  of  the  beloved  on  the  table  of  his  heart;  in 
46,  in  sequence  to  it,  occurs  a  contest  between  the  eye  and  the  heart  for  the 
possession  of  the  picture.    [He  also  believes  that  this  and  47  are  love-sonnets, 
not  sonnets  of  friendship.  For  the  theme  of  an  allegorical  strife  he  cites  parallels 
in  Dante,  Petrarch,  etc.,  and  compares  Sidney,  A.  &  S.,  52: 
A  strife  is  grown  between  Virtue  and  Love, 
While  each  pretends  that  Stella  must  be  his. 
Cf.  also  Drayton,  Idea,  33: 

Whilst  yet  mine  eyes  do  surfeit  with  delight, 
My  woful  heart  (imprisoned  in  my  breast) 
Wisheth  to  be  transformed  to  my  sight, 
That  it,  like  those,  by  looking  might  be  blest. 

(Archiv,  61:  414-16.)] 
Massey:  [This  and  the  following  sonnet]  are  obviously  based  on  one  of  Dray- 
ton's [i.e.,  the  one  just  cited],    (p.  141.)   Tyler  [notes  the  same  resemblance 


xlvi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  121 

(Intro.,  p.  40),  but  believes  Drayton  to  have  been  the  imitator.]  Dowden: 
Cf.  Watson,  Tears  of  Fancy,  Sonnets  19-20  ["My  heart  impos'd  this  penance 
on  mine  eyes,"  and  "My  heart  accus'd  mine  eyes  and  was  offended"];  Con- 
stable, Diana,  6th  Decade,  S.  7  ["My  heart  mine  eye  accuseth  of  his  death"]. 
Creighton  [believes  the  sonnets  to  be  a  parody  of  the  pair  in  Watson's  collec- 
tion. {Blackwood,  169:  673.)]  Lee:  The  war  between  the  eye  and  the  heart  is  a 
favorite  topic  among  Renaissance  sonneteers.  [See  further,  Lee's  note  on  S.  24.] 
Lord  Campbell:  This  sonnet  is  so  intensely  legal  in  its  language  and  imagery, 
that  without  a  considerable  knowledge  of  English  forensic  procedure  it  cannot 
be  fully  understood.  (Sh.'s  Legal  Acquirements,  p.  102.)  [That  such  knowledge 
was  widely  current  in  the  Elizabethan  age  has  been  abundantly  shown;  see, 
for  example,  Robertson,  The  Baconian  Heresy,  1913,  chapters  3-6.] 

9-10.  Lee:  The  legal  terminology  of  this  sonnet  is  common  in  Spenser, 
Barnes,  Barnfield,  and  many  other  writers  of  the  day.  Cf.  F.  Q.,  bk.  6,  vii,  34: 
"Therefore  a  jury  was  impaneled  straight."  [For  "tenants"  cf.  Barnes, 
P.  &  P.,  S.  20:] 

Those  eyes  (thy  Beauty's  tenants)  pay  due  tears 
For  occupation  of  mine  heart,  thy  freehold. 

9.  side.  Malone:  'Cide,  for  "to  decide."  Wyndham  [keeping  the  Q  spell- 
ing:] Adjudge  this  title  to  one  or  the  other  side.  N.  E.  D.:  Assign  to  one  of 
two  sides  or  parties.  [Despite  the  authority  of  the  N.  E.  D.,  and  the  tendency 
of  recent  editors  to  revert  to  the  Q  text,  I  am  very  doubtful  whether  there  is 
satisfactory  warrant  for  doing  so.  The  only  known  transitive  use  of  the  verb 
(in  pertinent  meanings)  is  with  the  apparent  signification  "to  take  sides  with," 
Cor.,  I,  i,  197:  "side  factions."  On  the  other  hand,  for  the  abbreviation  'cide 
Abbott  is  able  to  cite  numerous  parallels,  such  as  'cital,  'cause,  'bout,  'gree,  etc. 
(§  460.)  -  Ed.] 

10.  quest.  Malone:  An  inquest  or  jury.  Cf.  R. 3, I,  iv,  189:  "What  lawful 
quest  have  given  their  verdict  up?" 

12.  moyitie.  Malone:  In  ancient  language  signifies  any  portion  of  a  thing. 

13-14.  their  .  .  .  their.  Porter:  [The  Q  words  may  be  kept,  as  referring  to 
"thoughts."  On  the  other  hand,  the  correction  to  "thy"  in  lines  3  and  8  is  for 
once  admitted  to  be  right.] 

Beeching  [calls  this  sonnet  and  47  early  in  style.   (Intro.,  p.  li.)] 
Walsh:   [The  two  sonnets,  as  well  as  the  similar  24,]  are  generally  supposed, 
without  any  good  reason,  to  be  addressed  to  the  friend.    The  conceit  .  .  .  was 
common  among  the  sonneteers  of  the  time,  coming  down  from  Petrarch,  and 
they  always  employed  it  in  connection  with  their  mistresses. 


122     .        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE         [xlvii 

47 

Betwixt  mine  eye  and  heart  a  league  is  tooke, 

And  each  doth  good  turnes  now  vnto  the  other, 

When  that  mine  eye  is  famish t  for  a  looke, 

Or  heart  in  loue  with  sighes  himself e  doth  smother; 

With  my  loues  picture  then  my  eye  doth  feast,  5 

And  to  the  painted  banquet  bids  my  heart: 

An  other  time  mine  eye  is  my  hearts  guest, 

And  in  his  thoughts  of  loue  doth  share  a  part. 

So  either  by  thy  picture  or  my  loue,  9 

Thy  seife  away,  are  present  still  with  me, 

For  thou  nor  farther  then  my  thoughts  canst  moue, 

And  I  am  still  with  them,  and  they  with  thee. 

Or  if  they  sleepe,  thy  picture  in  my  sight 

Awakes  my  heart,  to  hearts  and  eyes  delight. 

t.  tooke]  strook  C. 

9.  thy  picture  or]  the  picture  or  L;  the  picture  of  G,  S,  E. 

10.  seife]  selfe  1640,  etc.       are]  art  C,  M,  etc.  (except  But). 

11.  nor]  not  1640,  etc.;  no  C.       farther]  further  Hu,  Ox. 

1.  tooke.  Cf.  /.C,  II,  i,  50:  "Where  I  have  took  them  up"  (Abbott,  §  343); 
and  T.N.,  I,  v,  282:  "He  might  have  took  his  answer"  (Franz,  §  12). 

3.  Malone:  Cf.  C.  of  E.,  II,  i,  88:  "Whilst  I  at  home  starve  for  a  merry 
look."   Dowden:  Cf.  75,  10. 

10-12.  still.  [The  use  of  the  word  in  these  two  lines  well  illustrates  the  con- 
nection between  the  modern  meaning  " still "  and  the  meaning  "always."  —  Ed.] 

Lee:  [This  sonnet]  clearly  suggested  such  a  passage  in  Suckling's  [Tragedy 
of  Brennoralt]  (V,  18-22;  cf.  Fragmenta  Aurea,  1656,  p.  44),  as: 

Will  you  not  send  me  neither 

Your  picture  when  y'  are  gone? 

That  when  my  eye  is  famisht  for  a  looke, 

It  may  have  where  to  feed, 

And  to  the  painted  feast  invite  my  heart. 

(Sonnets,  Facsimile  ed.,  1905,  p.  52  n.) 


xlviii]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  123 

48 

/How  carefull  was  I  when  I  tooke  my  way, 
Each  trifle  vnder  truest  barres  to  thrust, 
That  to  my  vse  it  might  vn-vsed  stay 
From  hands  of  falsehood,  in  sure  wards  of  trust? 
But  thou,  to  whom  my  iewels  trifles  are,  5 

Most  worthy  comfort,  now  my  greatest  grief e, 
Thou  best  of  deerest,  and  mine  onely  care, 
Art  left  the  prey  of  euery  vulgar  theefe. 
Thee  haue  I  not  lockt  vp  in  any  chest,  9 

Saue  where  thou  art  not,  though  I  feele  thou  art, 
Within  the  gentle  closure  of  my  brest, 
From  whence  at  pleasure  thou  maist  come  and  part, 
And  euen  thence  thou  wilt  be  stolne  I  feare, 
For  truth  prooues  theeuish  for  a  prize  so  deare. 

[If  Sh.  could  have  foreseen  the  good  fortune  of  this  sonnet  in  escaping  all 
textual  vicissitudes,  he  might  have  regarded  it  as  his  masterpiece.  —  Ed.] 

[The  resemblance,  in  theme,  with  S.  52,  gives  some  warrant  to  Walsh  in 
printing  the  two  sonnets  in  succession.] 

1-4.  Stopes:  A  little  touch  of  Sh.'s  character;  it  shows  he  was  careful  and 
methodical,  reticent  withal.   [Should  one  add  an  exclamation  point?  —  Ed.] 

5.  to  whom.  [For  the  use  of  "to"  with  the  meaning  "in  comparison  with" 
see  Abbott,  §  187,  who  treats  it  as  closely  related  to  the  signification  of  motion 
toward  ("when  brought  to  the  side  of,  and  compared  with  ") ;  Schmidt  (2 :  1236), 
who  relates  it  to  the  use  "denoting  junction";  and  Franz,  §  376,  who,  in  like 
manner,  traces  the  meaning  to  the  expression  of  relationship  between  two 
objects  which  are  in  a  position  to  be  viewed  from  the  same  standpoint  and  so 
compared.   Cf.  Temp.,  I,  ii,  481:  "They  to  him  are  angels."] 

10-11.  See  Simpson's  note  on  22,  5-7. 

11.  Boswell:  Cf.    V.  &  A.,  782:  "Into  the  quiet  closure  of  my  breast." 

14.  *Capell:  Cf.  V.  &  A.,  724:  "Rich  preys  make  true  men  thieves." 
Horace  Davis:  Cf.  75, 6.  Dowden:  Does  not  this  refer  to  the  woman,  who  has 
sworn  love  (152,  2),  and  whose  truth  to  Sh.  (spoken  of  in  41,  13)  now  proves 
thievish?  Rolfe:  The  meaning  .  .  .  may  simply  be  that  so  rich  a  prize  may 
tempt  even  true  men  to  become  thieves.   [For  truth,  see  note  on  54,  2.  —  Ed.] 

Massey:  [Such  a  sonnet  as  this]  can  only  be  spoken  to  a  woman  by  a  man. 
...  In  the  plays,  the  only  expressions  equal  to  these  in  depth  of  tenderness  are 


124  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xlix 

such  as  those  spoken  by  Posthumus  to  Imogen  —  "Thou  the  dearest  of  crea- 
tures." "Best  of  comfort,"  Caesar  calls  his  sister;  "thou  dearest  Perdita"  is 
Florizel's  phrase;  and  the  Duke  of  France,  speaking  of  Cordelia  to  King  Lear, 
says:  "She  that  even  but  now  was  your  best  object,  balm  of  your  ag*e,  most 
best,  most  dearest."  (p.  29.)  Sarrazin:  This  sonnet,  which  stands  very  near 
127,  131,  132,  fits  the  sense  much  better  addressed  to  a  sweetheart  than  to  a 
friend.   (Sh.'s  Lehrjahre,  p.  157.) 

49 
Against  that  time  (if  euer  that  time  come) 
When  I  shall  see  thee  frowne  on  my  defects, 
When  as  thy  loue  hath  cast  his  vtmost  summe, 
Cauld  to  that  audite  by  aduis'd  respects, 
Against  that  time  when  thou  shalt  strangely  passe,  5 

And  scarcely  greete  me  with  that  sunne  thine  eye, 
When  loue  conuerted  from  the  thing  it  was 
Shall  reasons  finde  of  setled  grauitie. 
Against  that  time  do  I  insconce  me  here  9 

Within  the  knowledge  of  mine  owne  desart, 
And  this  my  hand,  against  my  selfe  vpreare, 
To  guard  the  lawfull  reasons  on  thy  part, 

To  leaue  poore  me,  thou  hast  the  strength  of  lawes, 
Since  why  to  loue,  I  can  alledge  no  cause. 

1.  come]  comes  E. 

3.  When  as]  Whenas  G2,  S2,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Kly, 
Wh1,  Hal,  R,  Ty,  Cam2,  N,  Bull. 
10.  desart]  desert  G,  etc. 

3.  cast .  .  .  summe.  Dowden:  Closed  his  account  and  cast  up  the  sum 
total.   [Cf.  2,  11:  "sum  my  count."  —  Ed.] 

4.  advis'd  respects.  Dowden:  Well-considered  reasons.  Cf.  K.J.,  IV,  ii, 
214:  "It  frowns  more  upon  humour  than  advised  respect." 

7-8.  Steevens:  Cf.  J.C.,  IV,  ii,  20-21: 

When  love  begins  to  sicken  and  decay 
It  useth  an  enforced  ceremony. 

8.  reasons  ...  of  setled  gravitie.  Schmidt:  [Reasons  for]  a  dignified  reserve. 
[So  Delius;  and  Beeching,  who  observes  that  this]  is  the  constant  use  of 
"gravity"  in  Sh.  [On  the  other  hand,  Dowden  and  Rolfe  by  implication, 
and  Tyler,  Wyndham,  and  Porter  explicitly,  take  the  phrase  to  be  the 


l]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  125 

equivalent  of  the  "advis'd  respects"  of  line  4  or  the  "lawful  reasons"  of  line  12, 
—  i.e.,  to  mean  "weighty  reasons."  Miss  Porter  remarks:]  The  dread  of  cold 
and  formal  argument  is  tolled  out  at  the  end  of  each  quatrain,  as  "Against  that 
time"  is  at  the  beginning.  [This  parallel  certainly  raises  a  presumption  in  favor 
of  the  second  interpretation;  and  as  to  the  usual  meaning  of  "gravity"  in  Sh., 
it  has  reference  to  propriety  of  deportment  rather  than  to  a  distant  hauteur, 
and  can  scarcely  be  applicable  here.  One  may  also  compare  Hooker,  Eccl. 
Polity,  I,  x,  §  9:  "To  punish  the  injury  committed  according  to  the  gravity  of 
the  fact."   (Cited  in  N.  E.  D.)  —  Ed.] 

10.  desart.  Delius:  Little  desert,  or  want  of  desert.  [For  the  rhyme,  cf. 
11,4  and  14,  12.  —  Ed.] 

11-12.  For  the  notion  of  the  poet's  becoming  a  witness  against  himself,  cf. 
S.  88. 

[This  sonnet  is  one  of  those  best  representing  the  cumulative  effect  of  the 
three-quatrain  structure.   Cf.  also  52  and  73.  —  Ed.] 

[Mackay  believes  that  this  sonnet  introduces  the  sequence  written  to  rep- 
resent Leicester's  love  for  Queen  Elizabeth,  the  theme  being  developed  in  57-58; 
62-69;  104-107;  113-114;  118-122;  128;  140-142.  (Nineteenth Century,  16:256.)] 


50 

How  heauie  doe  I  iourney  on  the  way, 

When  what  I  seeke  (my  wearie  trauels  end) 

Doth  teach  that  ease  and  that  repose  to  say 

Thus  farre  the  miles  are  measurde  from  thy  friend. 

The  beast  that  beares  me,  tired  with  my  woe,  5 

Plods  duly  on,  to  beare  that  waight  in  me, 

As  if  by  some  instinct  the  wretch  did  know 

His  rider  lou'd  not  speed  being  made  from  thee: 

The  bloody  spurre  cannot  prouoke  him  on,  9 

That  some-times  anger  thrusts  into  his  hide, 

Which  heauily  he  answers  with  a  grone, 

More  sharpe  to  me  then  spurring  to  his  side, 

For  that  same  grone  doth  put  this  in  my  mind,- 

My  greefe  lies  onward  and  my  ioy  behind. 

2.  what]  that  G,  S,  E. 

4.  Thus  . . .  friend]  Italics  by  M,  Co3,  Hu2;  quoted  by  A,  Kt,  Co1'2,  B,  Del, 
Hu1,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Wh,  Hal,  Cam,  Do,  R,  etc. 
6.  duly]  dully  1640,  G,  etc. 


126  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [l 

Isaac  [compares  Petrarch's  sonnet  on  a  journey,  Pt.  i,  S.  13:] 

Io  mi  rivolgo  indietro  a  ciascun  passo 
Col  corpo  stanco,  ch'  a  gran  pena  porto; 
E  prendo  allor  del  vostr'  aere  conforto, 
Che  '1  fa  gir  oltra,  dicendo,  Oime  lasso;  [etc.] 

Massey:  [With  this  and  the  following  sonnet  cf.  Sidney's  sonnet  on  horse- 
back, A. ■&  S.,  49: 

While  I  spur 
My  horse,  he  [i.e.,  Love]  spurs  with  sharp  desire  my  heart. 

Also  R.  2, 1,  iii,  268-70: 

Every  tedious  stride  I  make 
Will  but  remember  me  what  a  deal  of  world 
I  wander  from  the  jewels  that  I  love. 

See  also  note  on  S.  44.] 

Plumptre:  [Cf.  Dante,  Vita  Nuova,  S.  4: 

Cavalcando  1'  altr'  ier  per  un  cammino, 
Pensoso  de  1'  andar  che  mi  sgradia,  etc. 

(Contemp.  Rev.,  55:  589.)] 

5.  The  beast.  Fleay  [is  the  only  reader  who  has  been  able  to  give  the  name 
of  this  beast.  In  accordance  with  his  metaphorical  interpretation  of  the 
journey-sonnets  (see  note  on  S.  27),  he  observes  that  the  horse]  ridden  by  the 
poet  is  only  the  animal  usually  employed  in  carrying  such  burdens,  —  Pegasus. 
(Macm.  Mag.,  31:  436.) 

6.  duly.  Malone:  [For  the  emendation,  cf.  "dull"  in  51',  2.] 


li]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  127 

51 

Thus  can  my  loue  excuse  the  slow  offence, 
Of  my  dull  bearer,  when  from  thee  I  speed, 
From  where  thou  art,  why  shoulld  I  hast  me  thence, 
Till  I  returne  of  posting  is  noe  need. 
O  what  excuse  will  my  poore  beast  then  find,  5 

When  swift  extremity  can  seeme  but  slow, 
Then  should  I  spurre  though  mounted  on  the  wind, 
In  winged  speed  no  motion  shall  I  know, 
Then  can  no  horse  with  my  desire  keepe  pace,  9 

Therefore  desire  (of  perfects  loue  being  made) 
Shall  naigh  noe  dull  flesh  in  his  fiery  race, 
But  loue,  for  loue,  thus  shall  excuse  my  iade, 
Since  from  thee  going,  he  went  wilfull  slow, 
Towards  thee  ile  run,  and  giue  him  leaue  to  goe. 

3.  thou]  tho  L.       thence,]  thence  ?  G,  etc. 

6.  slow,]  slow?  G,  etc. 

7.  wind,]  wind?  Bo. 

10.  perfects]  perfect  G,  S,  E,  M,  A,  Co,  B,  Hu1,  CI,  Kly,  Wh1,  Hal,  Ty; 
perfect'st  Kt,  Del,  Dy,  Sta,  Gl,  Cam,  Do,  Hu2,  R,  Wh2,  Ox,  etc. 

11.  naigh  .  .  .  flesh]  neigh  to  dull  flesh  M  conj.;  neigh  (no  dull  flesh)  M,  A,  Kt, 
Co,  B,  Del,  Hu1,  CI,  Wh1;  neigh  —  no  dull  flesh  —  Dy,  Gl,  Hal,  Cam,  Hu2,  R, 
Wh2,  Ox,  Her,  Be,  N;  neigh,  —  no  dull  flesh,  —  Sta;  neigh,  no  dull  flesh,  Kly,  Ty; 
neigh,  no  dull  flesh  Do,  Wy,  Bull;  wait  no  dull  flesh  Bulloch  conj.;  need  no  dull 
flesh  G2,  Kinnear  conj.,  But,  Wa;  waigh  no  dull  flesh  G.  C.  Smith  conj. 

13.  wilfull  slow]  Hyphened  by  M2,  Co,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Wh,  Hal, 
Cam,  Do,  R,  Ox,  Wy,  etc. 
13-14.  Since  .  .  .  goe]  Quoted  by  Do,  Ox. 

1.  slow  offence.  Beeching:  Offence  which  consists  in  slowness. 

4.  posting.  Schmidt:  Going  with  speed.  [Cf.  Lucrece,  220:  "  In  a  desperate 
rage  post  hither."  —  Ed.] 

6.  swift  extremity.  Schmidt:  Extreme  swiftness.  [See  note  on  9,  14.] 
Steevens:  Cf.  Macb.,  I,  iv,  17:  "That  swiftest  wing  of  recompense  is  slow." 

7.  mounted  on  the  wind.  Malone:  Cf.  2  H.  4,  Ind.,  4:  "Making  the  wind 
my  post-horse."  Rolfe:  Cf.  A.  Y.  L.,  Ill,  ii,  95:  "Her  worth  being  mounted 
on  the  wind." 

10.  perfects.  [Despite  the  prevailing  preference  for  the  reading  "perfect'st," 


128  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [li 

I  am  disposed  to  prefer  the  "perfect"  of  the  earlier  editors,  on  grounds 
of  euphony  and  because  Sh.  four  times  uses  the  expression  "perfect  love."  — 
Ed.] 

ii.  See  the  textual  notes  for  the  weight  of  opinion  respecting  this  difficult 
line.  M alone:  The  expression  is  here  so  uncouth  that  I  strongly  suspect  this 
line  to  be  corrupt.  Perhaps  we  should  read  "to  dull  flesh  " :  Desire,  in  the  ardour 
of  impatience,  shall  call  to  the  sluggish  animal  (the  horse)  to  proceed. 
Steevens:  The  sense  may  be  this:  "Therefore  desire,  being  no  dull  piece  of 
horse-flesh,  but  composed  of  the  most  perfect  love,  shall  neigh  as  he  proceeds 
in  his  hot  career."  "A  good  piece  of  horse-flesh"  is  a  term  still  current  in  the 
stable.  Such  a  profusion  of  words,  and  only  to  tell  us  that  our  author's  passion 
was  impetuous,  though  his  horse  was  slow!  Delius:  Desire  .  .  .  shall  serve 
the  poet  as  steed  and  neigh  in  his  fiery  course,  instead  of  the  slow  horse  of  flesh 
and  blood.  Massey:  Horses  are  in  the  habit  of  neighing  when  they  salute 
each  other;  they  will  do  this,  too,  if  speed  be  ever  so  important.  And  the  writer 
says,  his  desire  being  made  of  perfectest  love,  having  nothing  animal  about 
it,  shall  not  salute  any  dull  flesh  in  his  fiery  race.  .  .  .  Perhaps  the  poet  was 
thinking  of  the  words  of  the  prophet  Jeremiah:  "They  were  as  fed  horses  in 
the  morning:  every  one  neighed  after  his  neighbour's  wife."  (p.  142.)  [Despite 
Dowden's  remark  that  "surely  no  comment  is  needful"  on  this  interpretation, 
it  appears  to  have  been  accepted  by  Gollancz.]  Bulloch  [defends  his  emen- 
dation, "wait"  for  "naigh":]  the  poet  declares  that  he  would  dispense  with  all 
aid,  which  would  be  mere  "dull  flesh,"  and  would  excuse  his  poor  steed,  etc. 
(p.  281.)  Dowden:  Does  it  not  mean:  Desire,  which  is  all  love,  shall  neigh, 
there  being  no  dull  flesh  to  cumber  him  as  he  rushes  forward  in  his  fiery  race? 
Cf.  the  neighing  stallion  of  Adonis,  V.  &  A.,  300-312.  Wyndham  [keeps  the 
Q  reading,  save  for  a  comma  after  "naigh":]  shall  neigh  as  a  spirited  horse 
neighs.  A  "race"  of  colts  was  a  sporting  term  of  the  time  (Madden)  — akin 
to  our  "bevy"  of  quails,  "wisp"  of  snipe,  "herd"  of  deer.  [Beeching  cites 
Wyndham  as  giving  "race"  the  meaning  "breed,"  (but  this  is  certainly  not 
the  meaning  of  "bevy"  or  "herd."  —  Ed.)  He  adds:]  if  "race"  be  explained  as 
"breed,"  there  is  no  word  to  imply  that  Desire  gallops  off  home;  he  is  left 
neighing.  Butler  [defends  what  he  and  the  Cambridge  editors  call  Kinnear's 
emendation  of  "need"  for  "neigh,"  though  the  textual  notes  will  show  that 
this  had  appeared  in  Gildon's  second  edition,  with  which  the  Cambridge  editors 
were  not  acquainted.  He  paraphrases:]  My  desire  to  be  with  you  will  be  so 
great  that  I  shall  need  no  such  dull  flesh  as  that  of  my  "dull  bearer"  to  convey 
me  to  you,  but  love  will  find  an  excuse  for  my  poor  beast  which  he  would  never 
have  been  able  to  discover  for  himself.  Lee:  Desire,  which  is  all  spirit  and  no 
dull  flesh,  shall  neigh  in  the  excitement  of  its  impassioned  flight.  G.  C.  M. 
Smith  [defending  his  emendation  "weigh"  for  "naigh":]  Desire,  which  is 
identified  with  love,  refuses  to  keep  the  slow  pace  of  the  horse.  It  will  be  no 
burden  to  his  back.  But  as  the  horse  .  .  .  wilfully  went  slow  on  the  outward 
journey,  he  shall  not  now  be  spurred  to  a  speed  beyond  his  powers.  Love  or 
desire  will  fly  ahead,  and  leave  the  beast  to  walk.   {Mod.  Lang.  Rev.,  9:  372.) 


Li]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  129 

12.  for  love.  Tyler:  [This  may  mean  "from  love  to  the  poor  beast";  or 
"for  the  sake  of  the  love  awaiting  me  on  my  return";  or  "on  account  of  my 
affection";  or,  as  suggested  by  Mr.  Bernard  Shaw,  "on  account  of  the  love 
shown  by  the  horse"  in  the  "plodding  dully  on"  of  50, 6.  Tyler  inclines  to  the 
last  interpretation,  adding  that  "wilful,"  line  13,  must  then  signify  "purposely 
on  account  of  affection."]  jade.  Schmidt:  A  term  of  contempt  or  pity  for  a 
worthless,  or  wicked,  or  maltreated  horse.  [The  N.  E.  D.  adds:]  Sometimes 
used  without  depreciatory  sense,  playfully,  or  in  generalized  sense.  [Massey, 
viewing  the  horse  not  as  Sh.'s  but  as  Southampton's,  cites  R.  2,  V,  v,  85, 
"That  jade  hath  eat  bread  from  my  royal  hand,"  as  evidence  that  this  may 
mean  a  horse  such  as  a  nobleman  might  ride.    (p.  145.)] 

13-14.  Dowden:  I  have  placed  the  last  two  lines,  spoken,  as  I  take  it,  by 
Love,  within  inverted  commas. 

14.  go.  Rolfe:  The  word  here,  as  most  of  the  critics  agree,  seems  to  have 
the  specific  sense  of  walking  as  opposed  to  running.  Cf.  Temp.,  Ill,  ii,  22: 
"We'll  not  run,  Monsieur  monster."  "Nor  go  neither."  .  .  .  Schmidt  defines 
"go"  in  [this  passage]  as  =  "walk  leisurely,  not  to  run";  but  the  instance  in 
the  text  he  puts  under  the  head  of  go  =  "make  haste."  [Wherein  he  is  cer- 
tainly wrong.  The  word  had  no  such  specific  meaning,  except  as  any  verb  of 
motion  may  have  it  under  certain  circumstances.  —  Ed.]  Tyler  makes  "give 
him  leave  to  go"  =  "dismiss  him,  or  let  him  go  at  his  pleasure." 


130  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lii 

52 

So  am  I  as  the  rich  whose  blessed  key, 

Can  bring  him  to  his  sweet  vp-locked  treasure, 

The  which  he  will  not  eu'ry  hower  suruay, 

For  blunting  the  fine  point  of  seldome  pleasure. 

Therefore  are  feasts  so  sollemne  and  so  rare,  5 

Since  sildom  comming  in  the  long  yeare  set, 

Like  stones  of  worth  they  thinly  placed  are, 

Or  captaine  Iewells  in  the  carconet. 

So  is  the  time  that  keepes  you  as  my  chest,  9 

Or  as  the  ward-robe  which  the  robe  doth  hide, 

To  make  some  speciall  instant  speciall  blest, 

By  new  vnfoulding  his  imprison'd  pride. 

Blessed  are  you  whose  worthinesse  giues  skope, 

Being  had  to  tryumph,  being  lackt  to  hope. 

4.  .fine]  fair  E.     seldome  pleasure]  Hyphened  by  Kly. 
6.  sildom]  seldome  1640;  seldom  G,  etc. 

11.  speciall  blest]  Hyphened  by  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Kly, 
Wh1,  Hal. 

With  this  sonnet  cf.  S.  48,  and  note. 

4.  M alone:  Cf.  Horace:  "Voluptates  commendat  rarior  usus."  For 
blunting.  [On  this  use  of  "for,"  in  the  sense  of  "to  prevent,"  see  Abbott,  §  154, 
who  wrongly  explains  the  meaning  as  originally  "in  opposition  to";  Franz, 
§  327,  who  connects  it  with  the  final  use,  as  in  "to  start  for,"  with  the  addi- 
tional notion  of  a  circumstance  which  one  seeks  to  avoid;  and  N.  E.  D.  (vii, 
23,  d  sub  nom.),  under  the  general  signification  of  "the  cause  or  reason."] 
5-8.  Malone:  Cf.  1  H.  4,  I,  ii,  229-30: 

But  when  they  [i.e.,  holidays]  seldom  come,  they  wish'd  for  come, 
And  nothing  pleaseth  but  rare  accidents; 

and  ibid.,  III.,  ii,  57"59: 

So  my  state, 
Seldom  but  sumptuous,  show'd  like  a  feast 
And  won  by  rareness  such  solemnity. 

Verity:  Cf.  Montaigne,  Essay  on  Inequality:  "Feasts,  banquets,  revels  .  .  . 
rejoice  them  that  but  seldom  see  them."    (Stott's  reprint,  2:  239.) 

8.  Stopes:  Modern  necklaces  have  their  larger  beads  in  the  middle,  but  old 


Lin]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  131 

ones  were  threaded  more  like  rosaries,  captaine.  Schmidt:  Predominant. 
[The  N.  E.  D.  cites,  under  the  adjective  use  with  the  meaning  "principal," 
Stapleton's  A  Return  of  Untruths  (1566):  "A  manifest  and  captain  untruth."] 
carconet.  N.  E.  D.  (sp.  carcanet):  An  ornamental  collar  or  necklace,  usually 
of  gold  or  set  with  jewels. 

9.  Wyndham:  Cf.  65,  10:  "Time's  chest." 

10-12.  Steevens:  Cf.  1  H.  4,  III,  ii,  56-57: 

My  presence,  like  a  robe  pontifical, 
Ne'er  seen  but  wonder'd  at. 

14.  [For  the  varied  scansion  of  "being"  here,  see  Abbott,  §§  475-76:] 
A  word  repeated  twice  in  a  verse  .  .  .  may  occupy  the  whole  of  a  foot  the  first 
time,  and  only  part  of  a  foot  the  second.  .  .  .  When  the  word  increases  in 
emphasis,  the  converse  takes  place.  [It  is  rather  simpler  to  note  that  parti- 
ciples like  "being,"  with  the  stem  ending  in  a  vowel,  were  (and  are)  treated  as 
either  monosyllabic  or  dissyllabic  at  will.  —  Ed.] 

For  the  structure  of  the  sonnet,  see  note  at  the  end  of  S.  49. 


53 
What  is  your  substance,  whereof  are  you  made, 
That  millions  of  strange  shaddowes  on  you  tend? 
Since  euery  one,  hath  euery  one,  one  shade, 
And  you  but  one,  can  euery  shaddow  lend : 
Describe  Adonis  and  the  counterfet,  5 

Is  poorely  immitated  after  you, 
On  Hellens  cheeke  all  art  of  beautie  set, 
And  you  in  Grecian  tires  are  painted  new: 
Speake  of  the  spring,  and  foyzon  of  the  yeare,  9 

The  one  doth  shaddow  of  your  beautie  show, 
The  other  as  your  bountie  doth  appeare, 
And  you  in  euery  blessed  shape  we  know. 
In  all  externall  grace  you  haue  some  part, 
But  you  like  none,  none  you  for  constant  heart. 

3.  one  shade]  one's  shade  A,  Kly.   . 
7.  of]  or  But. 

On  the  theme  of  the  sonnet,  and  the  use  of  the  term  "shadow,"  see  Wynd- 
ham's  notes  on  S.  31  and  37,  10. 


132  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [un 

Isaac  [compares  some  lines  in  a  sonnet  of  Tasso's  Rime  Amorose,  15:] 

Delia  vostra  bellezza  il  mio  pensiero 
Vago,  men  bello  stima  ogni  altro  obietto: 
E  se  di  mille  mai  finge  un  aspetto, 
Per  agguagliarlo  a  voi,  non  giunge  al  vero. 

(Jahrb.,  17:  186.) 

2.  strange.  Schmidt:  Belonging  to  another.  Cf.  L.C.,  303:  "Subtle  mat- 
ter ..  .  all  strange  forms  receives."  tend.  Schmidt:  Wait  (on).   Cf.  57,  1. 

4.  Dowden:  You,  although  but  one  person,  can  give  off  all  manner  of 
shadowy  images. 

5.  counterfet.  M alone:  Portrait.  [Cf.  16,  8.]  Tyler:  The  description. 
[Walker  remarks  that  the  last  syllable,  commonly  spelled  -feit,  was  generally 
pronounced  nearly  as  "fate."] 

5-8.  [In  the  first  lines  of  this  quatrain  Massey  finds  an  allusion  to  the  writ- 
ing of  V.  &  A.,  in  which  Adonis  may  stand  in  some  sense  for  Southampton. 
(p.  38.)  Gervinus  also  takes  the  passage  to  involve  allusions  to  descriptions  in 
both  V.  &  A.  and  Lucrece:]  In  Lucrece  Sh.  has  mentioned  Helen  in  the 
description  of  a  picture,  and  it  is  as  if  the  retrospect  had  suggested  to  him  the 
allusion  "You  in  Grecian  tires  are  painted  new."  The  image  of  the  coy  Adonis 
is  closely  connected  with  the  substance  of  the  first  17  sonnets  [and,  we  may 
suppose,  with  the  Southampton  friendship].  (Trans.,  1883,  p.  447.)  Tyler: 
Notice,  from  the  comparison  with  Helen,  the  feminine  character  of  Mr.  W.  H.'s 
youthful  beauty.  Cf.  S.  20.  [One  is  chiefly  tempted,  reading  this  quatrain, 
to  conjecture  what  emphasis  would  have  been  placed  on  the  allusion  to  Adonis 
or  to  Helen,  if  only  Sh.  had  used  either  of  them  alone,  as  evidence  of  the  sex 
of  the  person  addressed !  —  Ed.] 

7.  Verity:  Cf.  A.  Y.  L.,  Ill,  ii,  153:  "Helen's  cheek,  but  not  her  heart." 

8.  tires.  Schmidt:  Head-dresses.  Dowden:  Head-dresses,  or,  generally, 
attire.  Rolfe:  The  word  may  possibly  be  a  contraction  of  "attires."  Tyler: 
Head-dress  properly,  though  here  the  word  "tires",  would  seem  to  be  used 
more  generally.  Lee:  Attires,  dress.  [No  one  appears  to  have  cited,  in  support 
of  the  more  general  interpretation  of  the  word,  the  passage  in  A.  &  C,  II,  v,  22 
(Cleopatra  speaking):  "I  .  .  .  put  my  tires  and  mantles  on  him,  whilst  I  wore  his 
sword."  On  this  R.  H/Case  remarks  (Arden  or  Dowden  ed.,  p.  62)  that  the 
word  is  common  in  the  meaning  "attire,"  and  cites  Heywood,  The  Brazen  Age: 
"Hence  with  these  womanish  tires";  also,  for  the  singular,  Rowlands's  The 
Knave  of  Hearts:  "  Reach  me  my  stockings,  and  my  other  tire."  The  N.  E.  D. 
cites  Hooker,  Eccl.  Polity,  V,  79,  §  5:  "Threescore  and  seven  attires  of  priests." 
—  Ed.] 

9.  foyzon.  M alone:  Plenty.  Schmidt:  Rich  harvest.  Rolfe:  Here  = 
autumn.  [For  the  symbol  of  "your  bounty"  M alone  compares  A.  &  C,  V,  ii, 
86:  "For  his  bounty,  there  was  no  winter  in't;  an  autumn  't  was,"  etc.,  where 
"autumn"  is  Theobald's  reading  for  the  Folio  "Anthony."] 

10.  show.  Schmidt  [takes  this  to  be  intransitive,  =  "appear,"  as  in  101,  14.] 


liv]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  133 

11.  bountie.  Brandes:  [Cf.  ''wealth"  in  S.  37  and  "  dear-purchas'd  right" 
in  S.  117;  evidence]  that  Pembroke  must  have  conferred  substantial  gifts  upon 
Sh.  (William  Sh.,  1:  349  n.)  ■ 

14.  Massey:  [By  those  who  read  all  these  sonnets  as  addressed  by  Sh.  to 
one  friend,]  the  deceiver  who  has  inflicted  a  public  disgrace  on  the  speaker  of 
S.  34,  who  has  been  a  base  betrayer  of  all  trust  in  S.  35,  a  thief  and  a  robber  in 
S.  40,  the  breaker  of  "two-fold  truth"  in  S.  41,  the  same  person,  the  thief, 
traitor,  deceiver,  betrayer,  injurer,  and  living  effigy  of  falsehood  and  incon- 
stancy, is  idiotically  supposed  to  be  told  by  Sh.  in  a  neighboring  sonnet  that 
there  is  "None,  none  like  you,  for  constant  heart"!  [Cf.  also  S.  105.]   (p.  25.) 

[Oscar  Wilde  treats  the  "shadows"  of  this  sonnet  as  the  various  playing 
parts  taken  by  the  youthful  actor  addressed  ( The  Portrait  of  Mr.  W.  H. ;  see 
note  on  S.  38).] 

54 
Oh  how  much  more  doth  beautie  beautious  seeme, 
By  that  sweet  ornament  which  truth  doth  giue, 
The  Rose  lookes  faire,  but  fairer  we  it  deeme 
For  that  sweet  odor,  which  doth  in  it  Hue: 
The  Canker  bloomes  haue  full  as  deepe  a  die,  5 

As  the  perfumed  tincture  of  the  Roses, 
Hang  on  such  thornes,  and  play  as  wantonly, 
When  sommers  breath  their  masked  buds  discloses : 
But  for  their  virtue  only  is  their  show,  9 

They  Hue  vnwoo'd,  and  vnrespected  fade, 
Die  to  themselues.  Sweet  Roses  doe  not  so, 
Of  their  sweet  deathes,  are  sweetest  odors  made: 
And  so  of  you,  beautious  and  louely  youth, 
When  that  shall  vade,  by  verse  distils  your  truth. 

9,  is]  in  1640,  G1.       virtue  ...  is]  vertue's  only  in  G,  S,  E. 

10.  vnwoo'd]  unmoov'd  1640;  unmov'd  G,  S,  E. 

14.  that  shall]  thou  shalt  But  conj.  vade]  fade  G,  S,  E,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  Hu1, 
Sta,  Gl,  Kly,  Wh,  Hal,  But,  Her,  Be,  N.  by]  my  C,  M,  Co1'2,  B,  Hu,  Gl,  Kly, 
Wh,  Hal,  R,  Ox,  Wy,  But,  Her,  Be,  Bull,  Wa. 

2.  ornament.  Porter:  Not  here  used  in  the  superficial  sense,  .  .  .  but  as 
the  befitting  token  of  the  substance,  that  which  shows  what  its  essential 
nature  is.  truth.  Schmidt:  Fidelity.  [Cf.  14,  11  and  14;  37,  4;  48,  14;  62,  6; 
96,8;  101,2,3,6;  110,5;  137,  12.  (I  omit  60, 1 1,  where  the  meaning  is  doubtful.) 


134  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [liv 

From  a  consideration  of  these  passages,  together  with  the  present  sonnet,  it 
will  appear  that  Sh.  was  exceedingly  fond  of  coupling  the  notion  of  "truth" 
with  that  of  "beauty";  that  he  used  the  term  clearly  in  the  meaning  of  "co^ 
stancy,"  but  sometimes  with  a  more  general  connotation  amounting  appar- 
ently to  "honor"  or  "virtue"  (thus  Schmidt  gives  the  meaning  "righteous- 
ness," citing  among  other  passages  K.J.,  IV,  iii,  144:  "The  life,  the  right  and 
truth  of  all  this  realm  is  fled");  in  other  words,  that  he  seems  to  have  tended 
to  adopt  the  word  as  signifying  moral  perfection  set  over  against  physical.  — 
Ed.] 

5.  Canker  bloomes.  M alone:  The  canker-rose  or  dog-rose.  [Cf.  M.  Ado, 
I,  iii,  28:  "I  had  rather  be  a  canker  in  a  hedge  than  a  rose  in  his  grace."] 
Steevens:  Sh.  had  not  yet  begun  to  observe  the  productions  of  nature  with 
accuracy,  or  his  eyes  would  have  convinced  him  that  the  cynorhodon  is  by  no 
means  of  as  deep  a  colour  as  the  rose.  But  what  has  truth  or  nature  to  do  with 
sonnets?   Rolfe:  Cf.  1  H.  4,  I,  iii,  176: 

To  put  down  Richard,  that  sweet  lovely  rose, 
And  plant  this  thorn,  this  canker,  Bolingbroke. 

[The  N.  E.  D.  cites  the  passage  just  quoted,  under  the  definition  "An  inferior 
kind  of  rose;  the  dog-rose  (rosa  canina) ."  From  the  accepted  interpretation  of 
the  word  there  have  been  two  dissenters.  R.  F.  Towndrow,  in  Ath.,  July  23 
and  Aug.  6,  1904,  set  forth  his  belief  that  the  "canker,"  both  here  and  in  the 
passage  in  1  H.  4,  is  the  crimson  and  green  gall,  or  bedeguar,  caused  by  the 
puncture  of  the  Rhodites  rosae,  popularly  known  as  "  Robin's  pincushion." 
Mr.  Towndrow  was  sufficiently  answered  by  G.  Birdwood,  in  the  numbers  for 
July  30  and  Aug.  13.  Wyndham,  on  the  other  hand,  oddly  takes  the  passage 
to  be  the  familiar  type  of  reference  to  a  blossom  eaten  by  canker  (cf.  35,  4; 
70,  7;  95,  2;  99,  13;  and  numerous  passages  in  the  plays).  "So  far  as  I  know," 
says  Mr.  Wyndham,  "  'canker'  is  used  by  Sh.  for  the  'dog-rose'  or  wild  briar 
only  twice," —  viz.,  in  the  two  passages  quoted  above.  But  if  twice,  one  natu- 
rally asks,  why  not  thrice?  —  Ed.] 
8.  M alone:  Cf.  HamL,  I,  iii,  36-40; 

The  chariest  maid  is  prodigal  enough, 
If  she  unmask  her  beauty  to  the  moon. 
Virtue  itself  scapes  not  calumnious  strokes. 
The  canker  galls  the  infants  of  the  spring 
Too  oft  before  the  buttons  be  disclos'd. 

Beeching:  It  is  curious  to  note  that  in  this  [Hamlet]  passage  the  word  "un- 
mask" is  found,  and  also  "canker,"  though  in  a  different  sense.  It  is  not  im- 
possible that  the  two  passages  may  have  been  written  about  the  same  time, 
and  that  the  one  is  something  of  an  echo  of  the  other.  McClumpha:  Cf. 
R.  &  /.,  II,  ii,  121: 

This  bud  of  love,  by  summer's  ripening  breath, 

May  prove  a  beauteous  flower.  (Jahrb.,  40:  196.) 


liv]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  135 

discloses.  Schmidt:  Opens.  Beeching:  The  word  would  seem  here  to  be  sug- 
*ges^ed  by  the  epithet;  the  wind's  opening  the  rose  being  compared  to  a  rough 
n^^r's^pulling  off  a  lady's  visor. 
m  9.  for.  [On  the  use  of  this  as  a  conjunction  (=  "because"),  see  Abbott, 

§  151,  and  Franz,  §  408.]  show.  Schmidt:  Appearance. 
9-1 1.  Walsh:  Cf.    V.  &  A.,  131-32,  166: 

Fair  flowers  that  are  not  gather'd  in  their  prime 
Rot  and  consume  themselves  in  little  time.  .  .  . 

Things  growing  to  themselves  are  growth's  abuse. 

10.  unrespected.  See  note  on  43,  2. 
11-12.  See  Malone's  note  on  5:  9-14. 

13.  Beeching:  "Lovely,"  being  distinguished  from  "beauteous,"  shows 
that  the  word  had  not  quite  lost  its  meaning  of  "attractive." 

14.  that.  Dowden:  Beauty,  the  general  subject  of  the  sonnet;  or  youth, 
taken  from  "sweet  and  lovely  youth"  of  line  13.  vade.  [A  familiar  variant  of 
"fade."  Main  seems  to  think  there  is  a  distinction  of  meaning,  citing  Barn- 
field's  Complaint  of  Chastity,  st.  9: 

For  what  are  pleasures  but  still- vading  joyes? 
Fading  as  flowers.] 

by.  [The  retention  of  this  word  by  a  few  editors  may  possibly  be  justified  on 
the  ground  that  "distil"  is  found  as  an  intransitive  verb;  it  does  not,  however, 
seem  to  be  found  with  the  meaning  of  "is  distilled,"  which  is  required  here, 
but  only  with  that  of  "trickle,  issue  forth  in  drops"  ( N.  E.  D.),  as  in  T.  And., 
Ill,  i,  17:  "Rain  that  shall  distil." — Ed.]  [Drake,  though  praising  highly 
the  sonnet  as  a  whole,  was  pained  by  the  "pharmaceutical  allusion"  in  this 
last  line.   (Sh.  and  his  Times,  2:  81.)] 

Walsh:  The  idea  expressed  in  this  sonnet  is  peculiar,  and  matched  only  by 
the  end  of  S.  5.  Beauty  is  treated  as  external,  secondary,  and  transient,  while 
odor  is  taken  to  be  inherent,  primary,  and  presentable,  —  beauty  a  shadow, 
odor  a  substance;  and  to  the  latter  is  compared  the  youth's  truth  or  constancy 
(see  S.  20,  3-4,  and  53, 14),  to  the  former  his  beauty.  But  elsewhere  the  youth's 
beauty,  or  rather  beauty  embodied  in  the  youth,  is  taken  for  the  object  of  first 
importance,  the  substance  that  is  to  be  preserved  in  one  way  or  another.  Even 
in  S.  5  is  no  direct  mention  of  odor  (save  only  in  the  adjective  "sweet").  But 
cf.  Lilly:  "Affection  that  is  bred  in  enchantment,  is  like  a  flower  that  is  wrought 
in  silk,  in  colour  and  form  most  like,  but  nothing  at  all  in  substance  or  savour." 
(Endimion,  I,  ii.) 

Henry  Brown:  This  sonnet  has  been  imitated  by  Henry  Peacham  in  the 
Minerva  Britannia,  1612,  p.  100.  (p.  177.) 

For  the  appearance  of  lines  5-6  of  the  sonnet  in  a  17th  century  MS.,  see 
note  at  the  end  of  S.  2. 


136  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lv 

55  '.    * 

Not  marble,  nor  the  guilded  monument,  * 

.  Of  Princes  shall  out-liue  this  powrefull  rime, 
But  you  shall  shine  more  bright  in  these  contents 
Then  vnswept  stone,  besmeer'd  with  sluttish  time. 
When  wastefull  warre  shall  Statues  ouer-turne,  5 

And  broiles  roote  out  the  worke  of  masonry, 
Nor  Mars  his  sword,  nor  warres  quick  fire  shall  burnet 
The  liuing  record  of  your  memory. 

Gainst  death,  and  all  obliuious  emnity  9 

Shall  you  pace  forth,  your  praise  shall  stil  finde  roome, 
Euen  in  the  eyes  of  all  posterity 
That  weare  this  world  out  to  the  ending  doome. 

So  til  the  iudgement  that  your  selfe  arise, 

You  Hue  in  this,  and  dwell  in  louers  eies. 

1.  monument]  monuments  M,  etc.  (except  Ty). 

4.  vnswept]  in  swept  Stengel  conj. 

5.  Statues]  Statutes  G1. 

7.  Mars  his]  Mars' s  G2,  S2,  E;  Mar  sis  M1. 

9.  all  obliuious]  Hyphened  by  M,  etc.  (except  Ty,  Wa).  emnity]  enmity  G2, 
etc. 
12.  weare]  were  1640. 

C.  A.  Brown  [makes  this  sonnet  the  envoy  of  his  "second  poem,"  27-55.] 
Dowden:  This  looks  like  an  envoy,  but  56  is  still  a  sonnet  of  absence. 
M alone:  Cf.  Horace: 

Exegi  monumentum  aere  perennius, 
Regalique  situ  pyramidum  altius; 
[and  with  the  second  quatrain]  Ovid: 

Jamque  opus  exegi,  quod  nee  Jovis  ira  nee  ignes, 
Nee  poterit  ferrum,  nee  edax  abolere  vetustas. 

Tyler:  [Cf.  with  Meres,  Palladis  Tamia,  1598:]  "As  Ovid  saith  of  his  worke  — 
Jamque  opus  exegi,  quod  nee  Jovis  ira,  nee  ignis 
Nee  poterit  ferrum,  nee  edax  abolere  vetustas; 

and  as  Horace  saith  of  his,  — 

Exegi  monumentum  aere  perennius, 
Regalique  situ  pyramidum  altius, 


lv]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  137 

Quod  non  imber  edax,  non  Aquilo  impotens 
Possit  diruere  aut  innumerabilis 
Annorum  series  et  fuga  temporum; 

so  say  I  severally  of  Sir  Philip  Sidneys,  Spencers,  Daniels,  Draytons,  Shake- 
speares,  and  Warners  workes  — 

Non  Jovis  ira,  imbres,  Mars,  ferrum,  flamma,  senectus, 
Hoc  opus  unda,  lues,  turbo,  venena  ruent. 

Et  quanquam  ad  pulcherrimum  hoc  opus  euertendum  tres  illi  Dii  conspirabunt, 
Cronus,  Vulcanus,  et  pater  ipse  gentis:  — 

Non  tamen  annorum  series,  non  flamma,  nee  ensis, 
iEternum  potuit  hoc  abolere  dieus."  (Fol.  282.) 

.  .  .  Though  evidence  is  wanting  that  Sh.  possessed  much,  if  any,  acquaintance 
with  Horace  generally,  yet  we  need  have  no  difficulty  in  believing  that,  after 
Meres's  book  had  been  published,  Sh.'s  attention  would  be  specially  directed 
to  the  ode  in  question  (iii,  30),  or  rather  to  that  portion  of  it  which  Meres  had 
quoted.  .  .  .  Very  likely  he  received  a  presentation  copy  of  Wit's  Treasury. 
But  whether  this  was  the  case  or  not,  it  is  unlikely  that  he  would  long  remain 
ignorant  of  the  compliment  which  had  been  paid  to  him.  And  as  evidence  that 
he  did  in  fact  become  acquainted  with  Meres's  book,  it  is  very  noteworthy  that 
there  are  some  things  in  the  55th  Sonnet  which  find  their  analogies,  not  in  the 
passage  from  Horace,  but  in  Meres's  quotation  from  Ovid,  and  in  particular 
in  the  Latin  of  Meres's  appendix.  It  is  Ovid,  and  not  Horace,  who  speaks  of 
the  destructive  agencies  of  fire  and  sword,  "nee  ignis,  nee  poterit  ferrum."  But 
the  7th  line  of  the  sonnet  finds  its  closest  analogy  in  Meres's  "Non  .  .  .  Mars, 
ferrum,  flamma"  ("not  .  .  .  Mars,  the  sword,  flame").  So  close,  indeed,  is  the 
resemblance,  that  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  avoid  the  conclusion  that  Meres's 
Latin  suggested  the  line  in  the  sonnet.  This  conclusion  is  strengthened  by  the 
incongruity  which  manifests  itself  in  the  line,  the  verb  "shall  burn"  suiting 
only  "war's  quick  fire,"  and  not  the  preceding  "Mars  his  sword."  It  will  be 
seen  upon  reflection  that  this  incongruity  is  easily  accounted  for  if  the  words 
"Mars,"  "sword,"  "fire,"  or  the  ideas  they  represent,  were  borrowed  all 
together  from  Meres.  The  elements  composing  this  line  are  not  to  be  found  in 
combination  elsewhere  in  Sh.,  nor  is  the  sword  of  Mars  elsewhere  mentioned. 
Then  the  expression  of  the  9th  line,  "all  oblivious  enmity,"  finds  its  explana- 
tion in  the  numerous  influences  tending  to  produce  oblivion  mentioned  by 
Meres,  though  perhaps  the  word  "enmity"  has  especially  in  view  Meres's 
supposition  of  a  hostile  conspiracy  on  the  part  of  the  three  deities.  Lastly, 
what  Sh.  says  of  "overturning  statues"  and  of  "broils  rooting  out  the  work  of 
masonry,"  may  very  well  have  been  suggested  by  Meres's  "ad  pulcherrimum 
hoc  opus  evertendum,"  though  this  perhaps  is  not  quite  so  conclusive.  On  the 
whole,  however,  that  the  55th  Sonnet  was  suggested  by  the  passage  from  Meres 
seems  scarcely  open  to  question.  It  may  be  reasonably  inferred,  therefore,  that 
S.  55  was  written  after  the  registration  of  Meres's  book  in  September  1598. 


r 


138  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lv 

(Intro.,  pp.  19-21.)  [Mrs.  Stopes  supports  Tyler's  argument  with  the  remark 
that]  it  is  almost  certain  Sh.  would  see  Meres's  work  in  MS.,  [since]  Meres  was 
brother-in-law  to  Florio,  another  special  protege  of  the  Earl  of  Southampton. 
[Dowden  (Intro.,  p.  22)  and  Rolfe  refer  to  this  argument  as  ingenious; 
Wyndham  considers  it  convincing  (p.  249),  and  it  is  also  accepted  by  Walsh. 
Lee  calls  the  evidence  very  trivial,  observing:]  In  Golding's  translation  [of 
Ovid]  reference  is  made  to  Mars  by  name  (the  Latin  here  calls  the  god  Gradivus) 
a  few  lines  above  [the  translation  of  the  "  Jamque  opus  egi"  passage,]  and  the 
word  caught  Sh.'s  eye  there.  Sh.  owed  nothing  to  Meres's  paraphrase,  but 
Meres  probably  owed  much  to  passages  in  Sh.'s  sonnets.  {Life,  p.  1 17  n.)  Por- 
ter: Comparison  of  [Meres's  Latin  with  the]  quotations  on  which  it  is  based  and 
with  the  sonnet  will  show  that  the  main  idea  of  Meres's  addition,  i.e.,  all  that  is 
his  own  and  has  not  already  appeared  in  the  citations  from  Horace  and  Ovid,  is 
the  notion  of  the  three  gods  conspiring;  also  that  the  sonnet  shows  no  convin- 
cing trace  of  this  notion,  nor  the  lesser  details  peculiar  to  Meres  —  i.e.,  the  wave, 
pestilence,  the  whirlwind,  poison.  It  is  clear  that  Sh.  did  not  use  Meres's 
special  contribution  to  the  general  idea  and  did  use  Horace  and  Ovid.  (p.  136.) 
[Even  if  the  resemblance  between  the  sonnet  and  Meres's  paragraph  were  so 
striking  as  to  lead  us  to  feel  that  some  definite  borrowing  is  involved,  it  would 
be  peculiarly  hazardous  to  follow  Tyler's  assumption  that  the  borrower  was 
Sh.,  since  Meres  happens  to  be  the  one  contemporary  of  Sh.'s  of  whom  we  hap- 
pen to  have  evidence  that  he  had  read  Sh.'s  sonnets  in  MS.  —  Ed.] 

W.  M.  Rossetti:  That  Sh.,  who  led  an  inconspicuous  life,  and  took  no  heed 
for  the  preservation  of  his  writings  later  than  the  V.  &  A.  and  the  Lucrece, 
should  yet  have  known  with  such  entire  certainty  that  they  would  outlive  the 
perishing  body  of  men  and  things  till  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  —  this  is  the 
most  moving  fact  in  his  extant  history.  [Yet  Rossetti  adds  a  foot-note  in  which 
he  admits  that  similar  expressions  "formed  almost  a  commonplace  of  sonnet- 
literature."]  {Famous  Poets,  p.  47.)  Halliwell-Phillipps:  [Some  of  the 
Sonnets]  have  the  appearance  of  being  mere  imitations  from  the  classics  or  the 
Italian.  ...  It  is  difficult  on  any  other  hypothesis  to  reconcile  the  inflated 
egotism  of  such  a  one  as  55  with  the  unassuming  dedications  to  the  Venus  and 
Lucrece,  1593  and  1594,  or  with  the  expressions  of  humility  found  in  the  Son- 
nets themselves,  e.g.,  32  and  38.  {Outlines,  8th  ed.,  2:  304.)  Von  Mauntz 
[observes  that  this  difference  can  be  explained  by  assuming  that  Sonnets  32 
and  38  were  addressed  to  Southampton  in  the  beginning  of  the  acquaintance, 
55  later,  when  the  poet  felt  more  confidence  in  his  genius.]  Barrett  Wendell: 
The  writer  of  these  sonnets  .  .  .  avows  his  belief  that  they  shall  be  lasting  liter- 
ature. Not  an  infallible  sign  of  serious  artistic  purpose,  this  is  at  least  a  frequent. 
It  appears  in  Spenser's  Amoretti,  and  in  many  passages  of  Chapman  and  of 
Ben  Jonson,  like  that  superb  boast  about  poetry  in  the  Poetaster: 

She  can  so  mould  Rome  and  her  monuments 

Within  the  liquid  marble  of  her  lines, 

That  they  shall  live,  fresh  and  miraculous, 

Even  in  the  midst  of  innovating  dust. 


lv]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  139 

In  small  men  pathetically  comic,  such  confidence  becomes  in  great  men  nobly 
admirable.  Of  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  then,  we  may  fairly  assert  that  they  must  have 
seemed  to  the  writer  more  important  and  valuable  than  his  plays.  (William  Sh., 
p.  223.)  Lee:  In  the  numerous  sonnets  in  which  Sh.  boasted  that  his  verse 
was  so  certain  of  immortality  that  it  was  capable  of  immortalizing  the  person 
to  whom  it  was  addressed,  he  gave  voice  to  no  conviction  that  was  peculiar 
to  his  mental  constitution,  to  no  involuntary  exultation  of  spirit,  or  spontaneous 
ebullition  of  feeling.  He  was  merely  proving  that  he  could  at  will,  and  with 
superior  effect,  handle  a  theme  that  Ronsard  and  Desportes,  emulating  Pindar, 
Horace,  Ovid,  and  other  classical  poets,  had  lately  made  a  commonplace  of  the 
.poetry  of  Europe.  In  Greek  poetry  the  topic  is  treated  in  Pindar's  Olympic 
Odes,  xi,  and  in  a  fragment  by  Sappho,  No.  16  in  Bergk's  Poetae  Lyrici  Graeci. 
In  Latin  poetry  the  topic  is  treated  in  Ennius  as  quoted  in  Cicero,  De  Senectute, 
c.  207;  in  Horace's  Odes,  III,  30;  in  Virgil's  Georgics,  III,  9;  in  Propertius,  III,  i; 
in  Ovid's  Metamorphoses,  XV,  871  seq.;  and  in  Martial,  X,  27  seq.  Among 
French  sonneteers  Ronsard  attacked  the  theme  most  boldly.  His  odes  and 
sonnets  promise  immortality  to  the  persons  to  whom  they  are  addressed  with 
an  extravagant  and  a  monotonous  liberality.  The  following  lines  from  Ron- 
sard's  Ode  (livre  i,  No.  7),  "Au  Seigneur  Carnavalet,"  illustrate  his  habitual 
treatment  of  the  theme: 

C  'est  un  travail  de  bon-heur 

Chanter  les  hommes  louables, 

Et  leur  bastir  un  honneur 

Seul  vainqueur  des  ans  muables. 

Le  marbre  ou  l'airain  vestu 

D'un  labeur  vif  par  l'enclume 

N'animent  tant  la  vertu 

Que  les  Muses  par  la  plume,   [etc.] 

(Oeuvres,  ed.  Blanchemain,  2:  58.) 

.  .  .  Desportes  was  also  prone  to  indulge  in  the  same  conceit;  cf.  his  Cleonice, 
S.  62,  which  Daniel  appropriated  bodily  in  his  Delia  (S.  26).  Desportes  warns 
his  mistress  that  she  will  live  in  his  verse  like  the  phcenix  in  fire.  Sir  Philip 
Sidney,  in  his  Apologiefor  Poetrie  (1595),  wrote  that  it  was  the  common  habit 
of  poets  "to  tell  you  that  they  will  make  you  immortal  by  their  verses."  "  Men 
of  great  calling,"  Nash  wrote  in  his  Pierce  Pennilesse,  1593,  "  take  it  of  merit 
to  have  their  names  eternised  by  poets."  In  the  hands  of  Elizabethan  sonnet- 
eers the  "eternising"  faculty  of  their  verse  became  a  staple  and  indeed  an 
inevitable  topic.   [Cf.  Spenser,  Amoretti,  S.  75: 

My  verse  your  virtues  rare  shall  eternise, 
And  in  the  heavens  write  your  glorious  name; 

Drayton,  Idea,  6,  14  ("my  immortal  song"),  44,  7  ("my  world-out-wearing 
rhymes"),  44,  11  ("Ensuing  ages  yet  my  rhymes  shall  cherish"),  44,  14  ("My 
name  shall  mount  unto  eternity");  Daniel,  Delia,  37,. 9  ("This  may  remain  thy 
lasting  monument"),  39,  9  ("Thou  mayst  in  after  ages  live  esteemed"), 
50,9-12: 


140  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lv 

These  are  the  arks,  the  trophies  I  erect 
That  fortify  thy  name  against  old  age; 
And  these  thy  sacred  virtues  must  protect 
Against  the  dark  and  time's  consuming  rage. 

.  .  .  S.  55]  is  also  very  like  Ronsard's  Ode  (livre  v,  No.  32)  "a  sa  Muse,"  which 
opens: 

Plus  dur  que  fer  j'ay  fini  mon  ouvrage, 

Que  Tan,  dispos  a  demener  les  pas, 

Que  l'eau,  le  vent  ou  le  brulant  orage, 

L'injuriant,  ne  ru'ront  point  a  bas.     [etc.] 

Cf.  also  Ronsard's  S.  72  in  Amours  (livre  i),  where  he  declares  that  his  mis- 
tress's name 

Victorieux  des  peuples  et  des  rois 

S'en  voleroit  sus  l'aile  de  ma  ryme. 

But  Sh.,  like  Ronsard,  knew  Horace's  far-famed  Ode,  "Exegi  monumentum 
aere  perennius,"  [etc.]  Nor  can  there  be  any  doubt  that  Sh.  wrote  with  a 
direct  reference  to  the  concluding  ten  lines  of  Ovid's  Met.  (xv,  871-79): 
Jamque  opus  exegi,  quod  nee  Jovis  ira  nee  ignes, 
Nee  poterit  ferrum,  nee  edax  abolere  vetustas. 
Cum  volet,  ilia  dies,  quae  nisi  corporis  hujus 
Jus  habet,  incerti  spatium  mihi  finiat  aevi; 
Parte  tamen  meliore  mei  super  alta  perennis 
Astra  ferar  nomenque  erit  indelebile  nostrum. 

This  passage  was  familiar  to  Sh.  in  one  of  his  favourite  books  —  Golding's 
translation  of  the  Metamorphoses.   Golding's  rendering  opens: 

Now  have  I  brought  a  worke  to  end  which  neither  Jove's  fierce  wrath 

Nor  sword  nor  fire  nor  fretting  age,  with  all  the  force  it  hath, 

Are  able  to  abolish  quite.  .  .  .  [And  all  the  world  shall  never 

Be  able  for  to  quench  my  name.  .  .  .  And  time  without  all  end  .  .  . 

My  life  shall  everlastingly  be  lengthened  still  by  fame.] 

(Life,  pp.  113-17;  see  also  Lee's  article  in  Qu.  Rev.,  210:  462.) 

[Von  Mauntz  notes  other  passages  in  Ovid  bearing  on  this  theme  than  that  in 
the  Metamorphoses;  viz.,  Tristia,  I,  vi,  35_36: 

Quantumcumque  tamen  praeconia  nostra  valebunt, 
Carminibus  vives  tempus  in  omne  meis; 

ibid.,  Ill,  iii,  77-78: 

Etenim  maiora  libelli 
Et  diuturna  magis  sunt  monimenta  mihi; 
ibid.,  Ill,  VU,  50-52: 

Me  tamen  extincto  fama  superstes  erit, 
Dumque  suis  septem  victrix  de  montibus  orbem 
Prospiciet  domitum  Martia  Roma,  legar; 


lv]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  141 

A  mores,  I,  x,  61-62: 

Scindentur  vestes,  gemmae  frangentur  et  aurum: 
Carmina  quam  tribuent,  fama  perennis  erit. 

To  which  he  might  have  added  the  lines  in  Ex  Ponto,  IV,  viii,  passim;  cf. 
especially  45-48 : 

Carmina  vestrarum  peragunt  praeconia  laudum, 

Neve  sit  actorum  fama  caduca,  cavent: 
Carmina  fit  viva  virtus,  expersque  sepulcri 

Notitiam  serae  posteritatis  habet.] 

Walsh:  [Besides  the  parallels  noted  by  Lee],  the  last  sonnet  of  Bellay's  Ruins 
of  Rome,  in  Spenser's  translation,  may  also  be  noted.  [This,  like  the  Horace 
and  Ovid  passages],  is  addressed  to  the  poet  himself,  or  his  work.  It  is  possible 
that  Sh.  was  here  apostrophising  himself,  and  intended  this  for  his  closing 
sonnet.  Accordingly,  Mr.  Godwin  puts  it  last  in  his  re-arrangement.  But  the 
"you"  here  appears  more  appropriately  the  "thou"  than  the  "I"  of  [S.  107.] 
It  is  amusing  that  in  all  this  effort  to  eternise  somebody,  the  name  of  the  person 
concerned  is  never  so  much  as  mentioned  even  in  a  heading.  Other  sonneteers 
of  the  period,  who  published  their  own  sonnets,  often  "eternised"  their  friends 
under  fictitious  names!  All  this  was  a  poetical  convention,  and  the  principal 
object  striven  after  was  to  see  which  could  do  the  eternising  best,  with  little 
regard  to  the  person  addressed  or  his  or  her  deserts. 

E.  S.  Bates:  In  answer  [to  Lee's  remarks  on  the  triteness  of  the  eternizing 
theme]  it  should  be  pointed  out  that  it  is  rather  curious  that  this  theme  was 
emphasized  most  by  the  three  poets  of  the  century  who  actually  had  the 
greatest  right  to  expect  immortality  for  their  verses.  Pierre  de  Ronsard, 
Edmund  Spenser,  and  William  Sh.  were  the  ones  who  expressed  the  thought 
most  frequently  and  most  nobly.  Why  is  it  impossible  that  these  men  should 
have  sincerely  believed  in  the  permanence  of  poetry,  or  that  this  thought 
should  have  given  them  deep  emotion?  And  if  in  regard  to  the  passing  of  beauty 
we  do  not  doubt  the  sincerity  of  Keats  when  he  reiterates  the  same  strain,  why 
shall  we  not  be  permitted  to  believe  in  that  of  Sh.?  These  ideas  are  so  universal, 
so  moving,  so  intrinsically  poetical,  that  to  account  for  their  presence,  even  in 
the  special  form  of  promising  eternity  to  a  particular  person,  we  hardly  need 
to  assume  a  hollow  endeavor  at  flattery  as  their  cause.  A  sufficient  explanation 
would  seem  to  be  that  among  the  current  poetical  conceptions  of  the  time  these 
were  particularly  congenial  to  Sh.'s  world-brooding  mind.  (Mod.  Philology,  8: 
101-02.) 

4.  unswept.  M alone  [interprets  "dusty,"  by  implication,  comparing 
A.  W.  W.,  II,  iii,  147:  "Where  dust  and  damn'd  oblivion  is  the  tomb  of  hon- 
our'd  bones."]  Porter:  Gathering  dust  to  grow  lichens  and  moss  in,  helping 
the  besmearing  of  the  careless  years. 

6.  Mars  his.   [The  following  of  Malone's  first  edition  may  be  traced  in  a 


I 


142  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lv 

number  of  texts  of  the  late  18th  or  early  19th  century,  through  the  remarkable 
genitive  Marsis  which  appeared  there.  —  Ed.] 

9.  all  oblivious.  [For  the  hyphenating  of  these  words,  cf.  "all-building," 
M.for  M.,  II,  iv,  94;  "all-changing,"  K.J.,  II,  i,  582;  "all-ending,"  R.  3,  III,  i, 
78;  etc.  Schmidt  renders  the  phrase  "forgetful  of  all,"  but  Rolfe  is  doubtless 
right  in  saying  "causing  to  be  forgotten."  Cf.  Macb.,  V,  iii,  43:  "Some  sweet 
oblivious  antidote."  —  Ed.] 

10.  Porter:  This  wonderful  line  owes  something  of  its  effect  not  alone 
to  the  music  of  the  alliterative  "pace  forth"  and  "praise  shall,"  but  to  the 
pacing  forth  of  the  single-syllabled  words  one  after  the  other,  till  the  verse  is 
in  itself  a  continuous  steady-going  procession,  pace  forth.  Tyler:  Come  forth 
in  public  view.   Rolfe:  Still  go  on,  endure. 

12.  weare  this  world  out.  Beeching:  To  "wear  out"  is  a  common  Shake- 
spearean expression  for  "spend,"  used  of  time;  often  as  here  with  a  notion  of 
"wearing  away." 

13.  judgement  that.  Dowden:  Till  the  decree  of  the  judgment-day  that 
you  arise  from  the  dead.  [So  Rolfe  and  Wyndham.  Beeching,  with  whom 
Lee  agrees,  makes  "that"  =  "when";  and  this  is  supported  by  Abbott's 
statement:]  Since  "that"  represents  different  cases  of  the  relative,  it  may 
mean  "in  that,"  "for  that,"  "because"  ("quod"),  or  "at  which  time" 
("quum").  (§  284.)  Porter:  "Judgement,"  in  one  of  its  facets,  means  the 
Judgement  Day,  but  in  the  other,  and  primary  facet,  here,  of  the  sentence,  the 
judgement  of  Doomsday:  So  here,  till  the  judgment  is  pronounced  that  you 
yourself  arise.  [Hudson  has  an  extraordinary  note,  which  it  is  perhaps  cruel 
to  perpetuate,  to  the  effect  that  "arise"  means  "raises,"  "put  in  the  plural  for 
the  rhyme."] 

Mark  Pattison  [mentions  this  Sonnet  as  an  example  of  the  bad  effect  of  a 
violation  of  the  rule  forbidding  the  repetition  of  rime  sounds  in  the  different 
parts  of  the  sonnet:]  Let  S.  55  be  read  aloud,  and  it  will  be  felt  how  much  the 
numbers  lose  by  this  fault;  enmity  and  posterity  being  tercet  rimes,  following 
upon  masonry  and  memory  in  the  quatrains.  (Sonnets  of  Milton,  Introduction, 
p.  10.) 


lvi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  143 

56 

Sweet  loue  renew  thy  force,  be  it  not  said 
Thy  edge  should  blunter  be  then  apetite, 
Which  but  too  daie  by  feeding  is  alaied, 
To  morrow  sharpned  in  his  former  might. 
So  loue  be  thou,  although  too  daie  thou  fill  5 

Thy  hungrie  eies,  euen  till  they  winck  with  fulnesse, 
Too  morrow  see  againe,  and  doe  not  kill 
The  spirit  of  Loue,  with  a  perpetual  dulnesse: 
Let  this  sad  Intrim  like  the  Ocean  be  9 

Which  parts  the  shore,  where  two  contracted  new, 
Come  daily  to  the  banckes,  that  when  they  see: 
Returne  of  loue,  more  blest  may  be  the  view. 
As  cal  it  Winter,  which  being  ful  of  care, 
Makes  Somers  welcome,  thrice  more  wish'd,  more  rare. 

3,  5.  too  daie]  to-day  C,  M.  etc. 

7.  Too  morrow]  To-morrow  C,  M,  etc. 

9.  Intrim]  interim  L,  M,  etc.  (except  Ty,  Wy,  Bull);  Interim  Ty,  Wy,  Bull. 

10.  contracted  new]  Hyphened  by  A,  Kt,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Sta,  Kly,  Ty. 

13.  As]  Or  C,  Tyr  conj.,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Kly,  Wh1, 
Hal,  Cam,  Do,  Ty,  Ox,  Wy,  But,  Be,  N,  Bull;  Else  anon,  conj.,  Gi,  R,  Wh2, 
Her,  Wa;  Ah  anon.  conj. 

This  sonnet  was  not  in  the  Poems  of  1640  or  the  editions  based  thereon. 

Wyndham  [makes  the  sonnet  the  first  of  his  Group  D,  56-74:]  These  19 
numbers,  conceived  in  a  vein  of  melancholy  contemplation,  are  among  the 
most  beautiful  of  all,  and  are  more  subtly  metaphysical  than  any,  save  only 
123-25.  (Intro.,  p.  cxii.)  Beeching;  I  agree  with  Wyndham  in  taking  this 
sonnet  as  opening  a  new  section.  . . .  The  "  interim  "  of  line  9  is  a  period  of  apathy, 
not  of  separation,  the  poet  does  not  here  say  on  whose  part,  but  makes  the 
poem  quite  general. 

6.  winck.  See  note  on  43,  1. 

8.  dulnesse.  Schmidt:  Insensibility,  indolence.  Dowden:  Drowsiness.  [So 
Rolfe.] 

9-12.  Dowden:  Is  the  sight  of  his  friend  .  .  .  only  the  imaginative  seeing  of 
love;  such  fancied  sight  as  two  betrothed  persons  may  have  although  severed 
by  the  ocean?   Tyler:  I  would  suggest  whether  the  poet  did  not  imagine  an 


144  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lvi 

irruption  of  the  sea  on  land,  so  as  to  "part"  what  was  previously  continuous. 
But,  through  persistence  of  the  wind  or  other  cause,  the  sea  holds  for  a  time  its 
conquest,  and  the  two  "contracted"  or  betrothed  lovers  come  daily  to  the 
"banks,"  expecting  that  the  sea  has  retired.  But  in  line  12,  instead  of  speaking 
of  the  return  of  the  sea,  the  poet  dismisses  his  simile,  and  speaks  of  the  "return 
of  love."  Wyndham:  The  image  is  obscure.  Perhaps  it  contains  an  allusion 
to  the  story  of  Hero  and  Leander.  Beeching:  [The  ocean  is]  any  ocean  that 
separates  lovers.  There  does  not  seem  to  be  a  reference  to  any  particular  story. 
Porter:  The  risk  of  death,  surmounted  by  Leander  in  swimming  across  each 
day,  .  .  .  and  the  fate  of  death  at  last  overtaking  him,  suits  the  idea  here  ex- 
tremely well.  .  .  .  [But  further],  this  "ocean"  and  this  "shore"  suggests  the 
larger  metaphor  of  the  sea  of  Death  and  the  elysian  shore  of  the  life  beyond 
Death.  [The  late  Professor  A.  G.  Newcomer  suggested  an  interpretation  of 
the  passage  which  I  here  set  down,  though  he  expressed  himself  as  having  no 
great  confidence  in  it:  "'Parts'  does  not  seem  to  mean  'separates,'  which  would 
lead  us  to  expect  'shores,'  not  'shore.'  Perhaps  it  means  'leaves,  recedes  from,' 
as  in  R.  2,  III,  i,  3:  'Your  souls  must  part  your  bodies.'  Then  love  is  likened  to 
an  ocean  with  its  tides,  and  we  may  paraphrase:  'Let  this  sad  interim  be  only 
like  waters  that  recede  from  their  shore,  where,  viz.,  by  this  ocean  of  love 
(dropping  the  image  of  a  real  ocean  at  this  point),  two,  contracted  new,  come 
daily  to  the  banks,  that  when  they  see  the  tide  of  love  come  in  again,  more 
blest  may  be  the  sight.'  Certainly  this  carries  out  the  thought  of  the  early 
part  of  the  sonnet  far  better  than  the  image  of  a  sundering  flood,  which,  at 
best,  is  difficult  to  work  out  satisfactorily.  But  I  admit  that  we  are  under  no 
obligation  to  seek  unity  of  thought  in  the  sonnets."  I  cannot  say  that  I  find 
the  continuity  of  thought  in  the  sonnet  obscure,  though  it  is  true  that  the  image 
in  this  quatrain  is,  for  Sh.,  remarkable  in  its  lack  of  distinctness.  To  me  it 
suggests  a  pair  of  lovers  who  live  on  the  opposite  sides  of  a  bay  or  estuary, 
where  the  ocean  may  be  said  to  "part  the  shore,"  and  who  come  daily  to  their 
respective  banks  for  a  view  of  each  other  which  is  the  "more  blest"  for  the 
situation  which  makes  it  difficult  to  obtain.  And  this  interpretation  may  per- 
haps be  supported  by  a  passage  brought  to  my  attention  by  Mr.  Horace 
Davis,  in 3  H.  6,  I,  ii,  135-38: 

Like  one  that  stands  upon  a  promontory 
And  spies  a  far-off  shore  where  he  would  tread, 
Wishing  his  foot  were  equal  with  his  eye, 
And  chides  the  sea  that  sunders  him  from  thence. 

For  the  thought  of  the  quatrain,  cf.  S.  52;  it  is  presented  in  the  final  couplet 
in  an  unmistakable  image.  The  change  from  the  first  two  quatrains  to  the 
third,  then,  is  only  in  the  imagery:  the  poet  first  says  that  interrupted  love 
ought  to  be  as  capable  of  renewing  itself  as  appetite,  which  must  be  newly 
satisfied  every  day;  then,  that  interruption  should  even  have  the  capacity  of 
intensifying  love,  which  is  more  blest  on  its  return  than  if  there  had  been  no 
"interim."  —  Ed.] 


lvii]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  145 

10.  contracted  new.  Tyler:  The  words  are  important  as  according  with  the 
position  that,  when  this  sonnet  was  written,  Sh.'s  friendship  with  Mr.  W.  H. 
v/as  still  new. 

11.  banckes.  Beeching:  Cf.  M.V.,  V,  i,  11: 

Stood  Dido  with  a  willow  in  her  hand 
Upon  the  wild  sea-banks,  and  waft  her  love 
To  come  again  to  Carthage. 

13.  care.  Schmidt:  Sorrow. 

Isaac  [views  this  as  a  love  sonnet.]  It  is  sufficient  ...  to  call  to  mind  the 
tone,  which  points  directly  toward  S.  75.  .  .  .  One  may  demand  of  those  who 
think  otherwise  some  proof  that  Sh.'s  friendship  was  coupled  with  that  violent 
tenderness  which  both  sonnets  exhibit  and  which  can  have  justified  the  com- 
parison of  the  friends  with  two  newly  betrothed.    (Archiv,  62:  12-13.) 

57 
Being  your  slaue  what  should  I  doe  but  tend, 
Vpon  the  houres,  and  times  of  your  desire? 
I  haue  no  precious  time  at  al  to  spend; 
Nor  seruices  to  doe  til  you  require. 

Nor  dare  I  chide  the  world  without  end  houre,  5 

Whilst  I  (my  soueraine)  watch  the  clock  for  you, 
Nor  thinke  the  bitternesse  of  absence  sowre, 
When  you  haue  bid  your  seruant  once  adieue. 
Nor  dare  I  question  with  my  iealious  thought,  9 

Where  you  may  be,  or  your  affaires  suppose, 
But  like  a  sad  slaue  stay  and  thinke  of  nought 
Saue  where  you  are,  how  happy  you  make  those. 
So  true  a  foole  is  loue,  that  in  your  Will, 
(Though  you  doe  any  thing)  he  thinkes  no  ill. 

5.  world  .  .  .  houre]  world-without-end-hour  G1,  S1;  world-without-end  hour 
G2,  S2,  etc. 

Isaac,  [again  viewing  this  and  S.  58  as  addressed  to  a  lady,  compares  them 
with  Rosaline's  speech  in  L.  L.  L.,  V,  ii,  60-68: 

That  same  Biron  I  '11  torture  ere  I  go. 

O  that  I  knew  he  were  but  in  by  the  week! 

How  I  would  make  him  fawn  and  beg  and  seek, 


146  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lvii 

And  wait  the  season  and  observe  the  times, 

And  spend  his  prodigal  wits  in  bootless  rhymes, 

And  shape  his  service  wholly  to  my  hests, 

And  make  him  proud  to  make  me  proud  that  jests! 

So  pedant-like  would  I  o'ersway  his  state 

That  he  should  be  my  fool  and  I  his  fate. 

(Archiv,  61:  425.) 

Krauss  notes  the  same  resemblance,  and  thinks  that  both  passages  have 
reference  to  the  tyranny  of  Lady  Penelope  Rich,  one  in  connection  with  Sidney, 
the  other  with  William  Herbert.    (Jahrb.,  16:  184.)] 

Von  Mauntz  [compares  Ovid,  Amores,  III,  xiv,  41-42:] 

Nil  equidem  inquiram:  nee,  quae  celare  parabis, 
Insequar,  et  falli  muneris  instar  erit. 

Dowden:  The  absence  spoken  of  in  this  sonnet  seems  to  be  voluntary 
absence  on  the  part  of  Sh.'s  friend. 

5.  world  without  end.  Malone:  Cf.  L.  L.  L.,  V,  ii,  799:  "To  make  a 
world-without-end  bargain  in."  J.  D.  Butler  [( N.  &  Q.,  9th  s.,  11 :  448)  notes 
that  the  phrase  is  found  in  the  King  James  Bible  in  Isa.  45:  17  and  Eph.  3:21, 
but  that  for  Sh.  it  existed  only  in  the  Rheims  Bible  of  1582.  Miss  Porter, 
however,  properly  refers  it  to  the  Gloria  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer.]  Lee 
views  the  phrase  as  imitative  of  the  compound  epithets  of  the  period,  called  by 
Ronsard  "vocables  composez"  and  by  Sidney  "compositions  of  two  or  three 
words  together."    (French  Renaissance  in  England,  p.  248.) 

6.  soveraine.  [For  those  concerned  to  discuss  the  sex  of  the  person  addressed, 
it  may  be  proper  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  Sh.  frequently  uses  this  word 
of  women.  —  Ed.] 

8.  servant.  Knight  [considers  this  to  be  decisive  for  the  view  that  Sonnets 
56-58  were  addressed  to  a  woman.]  The  lady  was  the  mistress,  the  lover  the 
servant,  in  the  gallantry  of  Sh.'s  time.  [But  this  use,  of  course,  did  not  put  an 
end  to  the  other  uses  of  the  word.  —  Ed.] 

10.  suppose.  Schmidt:  Figure  to  one's  self,  imagine.  [The  only  use  of  the 
word  in  Sh.  with  a  direct  object.  —  Ed.] 

13.  true  a  foole.  Stopes:  A  suggestion  of  unwisdom  in  the  passion.  It  may 
be  intended  to  bear  a  double  meaning.  Will.  Massey  [treats  this  sonnet  as 
belonging  to  the  group  of  those  containing  puns  on  the  poet's  name.  (p.  90.)] 
Dowden:  If  a  play  on  words  is  intended,  it  must  be  "Love  in  your  Will  (i.e., 
your  Will  Sh.)  can  think  no  evil  of  you,  do  what  you  please";  and  also  "Love 
can  discover  no  evil  in  your  will."  Lee:  [Capitalization]  was  the  usual  practice 
at  the  time  in  the  case  of  this  and  like  words  in  poetry,  e.g.,  Nature,  Truth, 
Wit,  Zeal,  Soul.  A  doubtful  endeavor  has  been  made  to  detect  in  the  word  here 
a  tame  pun.  [Tyler,  Wyndham,  Butler,  Bullen,  and  Walsh  are  the  modern 
editors  who  retain  the  capital  in  their  text.  —  Ed.] 


lvii]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  147 

Tyler  [notes  what  he  considers  to  be  significant  resemblances  between  pas- 
sages in  this  and  the  following  sorfnet  and  a  letter  of  Pembroke's  to  Cecil,  dated 
June  19,  1601:  "I  cannot  forbeare  telling  of  you  that  yet  I  endure  a  grieuous 
Imprisonment,  &  so  (though  not  in  the  world's  misjudging  opinion)  yet  in  my- 
self, I  feel  still  the  same  or  a  wors  punishment,  for  doe  you  account  him  a  free- 
man that  is  restrained  from  coming  where  he  most  desires  to  be,  &  debar'd  from 
enjoying  that  comfort  in  respect  of  which  all  other  earthly  joys  seeme  miseries, 
though  he  have  a  whole  world  els  to  walk  in?  In  this  vile  case  am  I,  whose 
miserable  fortune  it  is,  to  be  banish'd  from  the  sight  of  her,  in  whose  fauor  the 
ballance  consisted  of  my  misery  or  happines,  and  whose  Incomparable  beauty 
was  the  onely  sonne  of  my  little  world,  that  alone  had  power  to  give  it  life  and 
heate.  Now  judge  you  whether  this  be  a  bondage  or  no:  for  mine  owne  part,  I 
protest  I  think  my  fortune  as  slauish  as  any  mans  that  lives  fettered  in  a  galley. 
You  haue  sayd  you  loued  me,  &  I  have  often  found  it;  but  a  greater  testimony 
you  can  neuer  show  of  it  then  to  vse  your  best  means  to  ridd  me  out  of  this 
hell."  Tyler's  conclusion  is:]  As  the  letter  was  written  from  London,  the  possi- 
bility may  suggest  itself  that,  if  it  was  written  by  the  hand  of  Pembroke,  it  was 
really  composed  by  Sh.  But  it  is  perhaps  more  likely  that  Pembroke  borrowed 
ideas  from  the  sonnets  which  he  had  received  from  Sh.    (Intro.,  pp.  59-61.) 

[It  is  a  point  of  some  interest  to  inquire  what  is  the  intended  tone  of  this  and 
the  following  sonnet.  Butler  (p.  63)  says,  "Sh.  is  evidently  very  angry," and 
understands  the  manner  to  be  one  of  bitter  irony.  He  also  views  the  pair  as 
conclusive  for  the  relatively  low  rank  of  the  person  addressed:]  Is  it  conceiv- 
able that  in  S.  58  Sh.  should  tell  a  powerful  nobleman  that  he  could  not  even 
think  of  controlling  his  liberty  or  requiring  him  to  give  an  account  of  his  time? 


148  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lviii 

58 

That  God  forbid,  that  made  me  first  your  slaue, 

I  should  in  thought  controule  your  times  of  pleasure, 

Or  at  your  hand  th'  account  of  houres  to  craue, 

Being  your  vassail  bound  to  staie  your  leisure. 

Oh  let  me  suffer  (being  at  your  beck)  5 

Th'  imprison'd  absence  of  your  libertie, 

And  patience  tame,  to  sufferance  bide  each  check, 

Without  accusing  you  of  iniury. 

Be  where  you  list,  your  charter  is  so  strong,  9 

That  you  your  selfe  may  priuiledge  your  time 

To  what  you  will,  to  you  it  doth  belong, 

Your  selfe  to  pardon  of  selfe-doing  crime. 

I  am  to  waite,  though  waiting  so  be  hell, 

Not  blame  your  pleasure  be  it  ill  or  well. 

3.  th'  account]  the  account  L,  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Del,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Cam,  Do,  R, 
Wh2,  Ox,  But,  Her,  Be,  N. 

6.  Th'  imprison'd]  The  imprison'd  C,  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Del,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Cam, 
Do,  R,  Wh2,  Ox,  But,  etc. 

7.  patience  tame,  to  sufferance]  patience,  tame  to  sufferance,  G2,  S2,  etc.; 
patience  tame  to  sufferance;  C. 

io-ii.  time  To]  time:  Do  M,  A,  Kt,  Co** 2,  B,  Del1. 2,  Hu,  Sta,  Kly,  Hal,  Wa; 
time;  Do  But,  Be. 

Walsh:  A  mere  replica  of  the  preceding  [sonnet],  and  was  probably  intended 
to  supersede  it. 

3.  to  crave.  [Regarding  the  expletive  "to,"  see  Abbott:]  Just  as  "that"  is 
sometimes  omitted  and  then  inserted  to  connect  a  distant  clause  with  a  first  part 
of  a  sentence,  so  sometimes  "to"  is  inserted  apparently  for  the  same  reason. 
(§  416.) 

6.  Delius:  Let  me  bear  the  fact  that  the  liberty  which  you  give,  or  possess, 
is  wanting  to  me,  a  captive.  Dowden:  The  separation  from  you,  which  is 
proper  to  your  state  of  freedom,  but  which  to  me  is  imprisonment.  Or,  [the 
interpretation  of  Delius  may  be  right.]  Wyndham:  The  absence  which,  aris- 
ing out  of  your  liberty,  is  as  imprisonment  to  me.  Butler:  Let  me  suffer  the 
imprisonment  of  being  kept  at  home  waiting  for  you  while  you  take  your 
liberty  and  absent  yourself  (after  having  promised  to  come  to  see  me).  Beech- 


lviii]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  149 

Ing:  Your  absence,  which,  though  it  represent  liberty  to  you,  means  imprison- 
ment to  me.   [So,  substantially,  Lee.] 

7.  tame,  to  sufferance.  Malone:  Cf.  Lear,  IV,  vi,  225:  "Made  tame  to  for- 
tune's blows."  Dowden:  Bearing  tamely  even  cruel  distress.  Tyler:  Subdue 
patience  into  suffering.  [From  which  he  would  seem  to  take  "tame"  as  a  verb, 
though  he  puts  the  usual  comma  after  "patience." —  Ed.]  Verity:  ["Suf- 
ferance" may  mean  "the  verge  of  great  forbearance";  cf.  M.V.,  I,  iii,  11 1: 
"Sufferance  is  the  badge  of  all  our  tribe."]  Lee:  Complaisant  in  suffering. 
Beeching:  Subdued  so  as  to  suffer.  Cf.  K.J.,  IV,  ii,  262:  "Tame  to  their 
obedience."  [Miss  Porter  alone  sees  a  possibility  of  keeping  the  Q  punctua- 
tion, explaining:]  The  poet  suffers  tame  patience  and  bides  to  the  point  of 
suffering  each  rebuff,  bide  each  check.  Rolfe:  Endure  each  rebuke  or  rebuff. 

10.  priviledge.  Schmidt:  Authorize, license.  [Ci.Lucrece, 621:  "To  privilege 
dishonour  in  thy  name."] 

11.  To.  Malone:  There  can,  I  think,  be  no  doubt  that  [this  is]  a  misprint. 
[See  the  textual  notes  for  the  extent  to  which  his  emendation  has  been  ac- 
cepted.] Beeching:  The  rhythm  and  sense  of  the  quatrain  are  against  [the 
Q  reading].  "Do  what  you  will"  answers  rhetorically  to  "Be  where  you  list;" 
else  there  is  no  verb  of  doing  leading  up  to  "self -doing  crime,"  as  "be"  to 
"  privilege  your  time." 

13.  to  waite.  Kellner  [notes  this  as  a  kind  of  "absolute  infinitive,"  com- 
paring A.  Y.  L.,  Ill,  ii,  162:  "  I  to  live  and  die  her  slave."  (Hist.  Gram.,  §  400.)] 


150  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lix 

59 

If  their  bee  nothing  new,  but  that  which  is, 
Hath  beene  before,  how  are  our  braines  beguild, 
Which  laboring  for  inuention  beare  amisse 
The  second  burthen  of  a  former  child? 
Oh  that  record  could  with  a  back-ward  looke,  5 

Euen  of  fiue  hundreth  courses  of  the  Sunne, 
Show  me  your  image  in  some  antique  booke, 
Since  minde  at  first  in  carrecter  was  done. 
That  I  might  see  what  the  old  world  could  say,  9 

To  this  composed  wonder  of  your  frame, 
Whether  we  are  mended,  or  where  better  they, 
Or  whether  reuolution  be  the  same. 
Oh  sure  I  am  the  wits  of  former  daies, 
To  subiects  worse  haue  giuen  admiring  praise. 

1.  their]  there  1640,  etc. 

4.  burthen]  burden  G2,  S2,  E,  Co,  Del,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Hal,  Hu2,  Ox,  N,  Bull,  Wa. 

6.  hundreth]  hundred  G,  etc.;  thousand  Stengel  conj. 

8.  minde]  mine  1640,  G,  S,  E. 

11.  Whether]  Whe'r  Ox.  we  are]  we're  G2,  S2,  E,  Hu.  where]  whe'r  C,  M,  A, 
Kt,  B,  Del,  CI,  Wh1,  Do,  Ty,  Ox,  Wy,  Be,  Bull;  whtr  Hu,  Dy,  Sta;  whether 
Gl,  Cam,  Co3,  R,  Wh2,  But,  Her;  were  Kly;  whe'er  N,  Wa. 

Rolfe:  Here,  as  Tyler  notes,  there  is  "pretty  clearly  a  break  of  continuity." 
[Tyler  finds  in  this  sonnet  references  to  the  "doctrine  of  the  cycles,"  and 
compares  a  passage  in  2  H.  4,  III,  i,  80-86: 

There  is  a  history  in  all  men's  lives, 

Figuring  the  nature  of  the  times  deceas'd; 

The  which  observ'd,  a  man  may  prophesy, 

With  a  near  aim,  of  the  main  chance  of  things 

As  yet  not  come  to  life,  who  in  their  seeds 

And  weak  beginnings  lie  intreasured. 

Such  things  become  the  hatch  and  brood  of  time.] 

...  It  will  be  seen  that  [in  the  sonnet]  the  idea  is  not  simply  that  the  lives  of 
men  "figure  the  nature  of  the  times  deceased,"  but  the  absence  of  anything 
really  new  is  supposed,  so  that  even  the  brain  itself,  "labouring  for  invention," 
can  but  produce  again  what  it  has  formerly  brought  forth.  What  follows  as  to 


lix]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  151 

"five  hundred  courses  of  the  sun"  would  seem  to  point  to  pre-existence  in  this, 
rather  than  in  some  former  world.  And  here  it  is  worthy  to  be  observed  that 
when  Sh.  was  thus  contemplating  the  course  of  things,  the  idea  of  an  ocean  of 
being  seems  to  have  presented  itself  to  his  mind ;  and  such  an  idea  is  in  accord- 
ance with  what  is  said  in  [2  H.  4,  III,  i,  50]  about  the  ocean  and  its  "beachy 
girdle."  [Cf.  S.  60;  "Like  as  the  waves  make  towards  the  pebbled  shore,"  etc.] 
.  .  .  [As  to  the  source  of  this  doctrine,  for  Sh.]  some  points  of  correspondence 
in  the  writings  of  Bruno  and  Campanella  might  possibly  be  detected.  But  the 
doctrine,  as  it  appears  in  the  59th  and  123rd  Sonnets,  was  the  doctrine  of  the 
ancient  Stoics,  which  was  reproduced  by  the  author  of  the  biblical  book  of 
Ecclesiastes.  .  .  .  The  verses  in  the  first  chapter  of  Ecclesiastes  which  contain 
the  doctrine  of  the  cycles  are  so  salient  and  prominent,  and  lend  themselves  so 
easily  to  quotation,  that  I  cannot  readily  allow  the  improbability  of  Sh.'s 
having  obtained  his  knowledge  from  this  source.  Sh.  does  not  speak  of  the 
doctrine  as  derived  from  his  own  reflection,  but  rather  as  an  hypothesis  received 
from  without  or  heard  from  others.  (Intro.,  pp.  104-08.)  Mrs.  Stopes,  [fol- 
lowing Tyler  here  and  elsewhere  in  supposing  some  interest  on  Sh.'s  part  in  the 
writings  of  Giordano  Bruno,  thinks  that  the  present  sonnet  is  a  reference  to 
some  late  discussion  of  those  writings  between  Sh.  and  the  friend  addressed.] 
Beeching:  This  sonnet  anticipates  the  thought  of  Sonnets  106  and  123.  Lee: 
Sh.'s  treatment  of  the  central  tenet  of  Ovid's  cyclical  creed  may  be  best  de- 
duced from  Sonnets  59  and  123.   In  both  these  poems  the  doctrine  of  Nature's 

rotatory  process  is  the  main  topic In  the  first  sonnet  the  poet  seriously 

examines  the  theory  without  committing  himself  to  it;  in  the  second  he  pro- 
nounces in  its  favour,  albeit  with  a  smack  of  irony.  [Golding's  version  of 
Ovid's  statement  is:] 

Things  ebb  and  flow.  .  .  .  Even  so  the  times  by  kind 

Do  fly  and  follow  both  at  once,  and  evermore  renew.  .  .  . 

Things  pass  perchance  from  place  to  place,  yet  all,  from  whence  they  came 

Returning,  do  unperished  continue  still  the  same. 

(Qu.  Rev.,  210:  469.) 

F.  V.  Hugo:  N'est-il  pas  etrange  de  voir  revenir  ici  cette  doctrine  de  la 
metempsycose  partie  de  l'ancienne  Egypte  et  de  la  vieille  Gaule?  Remarquons 
aussi  la  conclusion  dans  laquelle  Sh.,  repoussant  l'idee  indienne  de  l'immobilite 
et  l'idee  biblique  de  la  decadence,  proclame,  avec  la  certitude  du  genie,  le 
grand  principe  revolutionnaire  du  progres  indefini. 

3.  invention.  Cf.  38,  8  and  note. 

5.  record.  Schmidt:  Memory.  Rolfe:  Accented  by  Sh.  on  either  syllable, 
as  suits  the  measure.   Cf.  122,  8. 

7-8.  M alone:  Would  that  I  could  read  a  description  of  you  in  the  earliest 
manuscript  that  appeared  after  the  first  use  of  letters.  Steevens:  This  may 
allude  to  the  ancient  custom  of  inserting  real  portraits  among  the  ornaments 
of  illuminated  manuscripts,  with  inscriptions  under  them.  Schmidt,  [under 
"character,"  paraphrases  line  8:]  Since  thought  was  first  expressed  in  writing. 


152  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lx 

io.  composed  wonder.  Rolfe:  Wonderful  composition.  [See  Schmidt's 
note  on  9,  14.] 

11.  where.  M alone:  Whether.  Dowden:  Often  monosyllabic  in  Eliza- 
bethan verse.  [Cf.  V.  &  A.,  304:  "Where  he  run  or  fly"  (Q  spelling).] 
[From  this  only  Collier  dissents,  saying  that  the  clear  meaning  is,]  In  what 
respects  were  they  better? 

12.  Dowden:  Whether  the  ages,  revolving  on  themselves,  return  to  the  same 
things.  [Cf.  2  H.  4,  III,  i,  46:  "And  see  the  revolution  of  the  times."  —  Ed.] 

13-14.  Lee:  [Cf.  Spenser's  sonnet  to  Lord  Charles  Howard,  in  which  he 
tells  his  patron]  that  "his  good  personage  and  noble  deeds"  made  him  the 
pattern  to  the  present  age  of  the  old  heroes  of  whom  "the  antique  poets"  were 
"wont  so  much  to  sing."    (Life,  p.  140.) 

60 

Like  as  the  waues  make  towards  the  pibled  shore, 
So  do  our  minuites  hasten  to  their  end, 
Each  changing  place  with  that  which  goes  before, 
In  sequent  toile  all  forwards  do  contend. 
Nativity,  once  in  the  maine  of  light.  5 

Crawles  to  maturity,  wherewith  being  crown'd, 
Crooked  ^clipses  gainst  his  glory  fight, 
And  time  that  gaue,  doth  now  his  gift  confound. 
Timejipth  transfixe  the  florish  set  on  youth,  9 

And  delues  the  paralels  in  beauties  brow, 
Feedes  on  the  rarities  of  natures  truth, 
And  nothing  stands  but  for  his  sieth  to  mow^ 
And/Vefrto  times  in  hope,  my  verse  shall  stand 
Pra$&i%7thy  worth,  dispight  his  cruell  hand. 

1.  pibled]  pebbletfE,  etc. 
13.  times  in  hope,  my]  times,  in  hope,  my  G2,  S2,  E;  times  in  hope  my  C,  Co, 
Del,  etc.  (except  Ty);  Time's  wanhope  my  Fleay  conj.;  Time's  own  hour  my 
Bulloch  conj.;  time's  rebuke  my  anon.  conj. 

1.  Stopes:  By  this  time  the  inland  poet  had  looked  upon  the  sea  beating 
upon  some  pebbly  beach,  probably  Dover.   [For  the  form  pibled,  see  N.  E.  D. 
under  "pebble,"  where  many  variant  forms  are  noted,  "some  going  back  to 
O.  E.,  the  phonetic  relations  of  which  are  obscure."] 
1-4.  Lee:  [Cf.  Golding's  Ovid,  Metam.  xv:] 
As  every  wave  drives  others  forth,  and  that  that  comes  behind 
Both  thrusteth  and  is  thrust  himself;  even  so  the  times  by  kind  (etc.)- 


lx]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  153 

5.  M alone:  ["The  main  of  light"  is]  the  great  body  of  light.  So,  the 
"main"  of  waters.  Palgrave:  When  a  star  has  risen  and  entered  on  the  full 
stream  of  light.  Dowden:  The  entrance  of  a  child  into  the  world  at  birth  is 
an  entrance  into  the  main  or  ocean  of  light.  Tyler:  The  world  conceived  as 
though  a  wide  ocean  enlightened  by  the  rays  of  the  sun.  Wyndham  :  This  and 
the  two  next  lines  have  primarily  and  essentially  an  astrological  significance. 
"Nativity"  is  a  term  of  astrology  denoting  the  moment  of  a  child's  birth  in 
relation  to  the  scheme  or  figure  of  the  heavens,  particularly  of  the  Twelve 
Houses,  at  that  moment,  and  it  is  employed  by  Sh.  almost  invariably  with  this 
connotation.  Lear,  I,  ii,  140:  "My  nativity  was  under  Ursa  Major";  Per., 
Ill,  i,  32:  "Thou  hast  as  chiding  a  nativity  as  fire,  air,  water,  earth,  and  heaven 
can  make";  i  H.  4,  III,  i,  13:  "At  my  nativity  the  front  of  heaven  was  full  of 
fiery  shapes."  .  .  .  Here,  though  possibly  with  a  secondary  echo  of  the  sea- 
image  from  the  first  quatrain,  "main  of  light"  means  the  hollow  sphere  of  the 
universe  filled  with  light  as  conceived  in  Sh.'s  day.  Life  beginning  at  a  point  in 
time  within  the  shining  sphere  of  the  heavens,  whose  aspect  is  charged  with  its 
fate,  crawls  to  maturity  only  to  be  thwarted  by  their  fateful  powers.  Beeching  : 
"Nativity"  or  "birth"  is  compared  to  the  sun  crawling  up  the  sky,  called  "the 
main  of  light"  to  distinguish  it  from  the  "main  of  waters."  [Wyndham's  note 
is  of  real  value,  as  directing  attention  to  the  astrological  character  of  the  image, 
which  had  curiously  escaped  earlier  commentators,  —  except  perhaps  Pal- 
grave. In  view  of  the  term  "eclipses,"  however,  I  think  that  Beeching  is  right 
in  taking  the  figure  to  have  primary  reference  to  the  sun.  —  Ed.]  Lee:  Ovid 
(Metam.  xv)  describes  "Dame  Nature"  as  bringing  man  out  from  the  womb 
"[in]  to  ayre,"  for  him  to  pass  "forth  the  space  of  youth,"  to  wear  "out  his 
middle  age  apace,"  and  finally  to  have  his  strength  "undermined"  by  age  and 
to  be  consumed  "every  whit"  by  "lingering  death."  (Golding's  trans.,  ed. 
1612,  p.  186  a.)  [In  the  Qu.  Rev.,  210:  473,  Lee  also  calls  attention,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  "crawls"  of  line  6,  to  Ovid's  description  of  "the  baby's  early 
endeavour  to  crawl."  The  notion,  however,  of  a  child  "crawling  to  maturity" 
in  this  literal  fashion,  is  so  painful  that  we  may  be  allowed  to  forget  it.  —  Ed.] 

6.  Crawles.  Tyler:  Meaning,  probably,  not  merely  that  the  progress  is 
slow  but  that  the  condition  of  mankind  is  abject.  Cf.  Haml.,  Ill,  i,  130: 
"What  should  such  fellows  as  I  do  crawling  between  heaven  and  earth  ?  " 

7.  Crooked.  Schmidt:  Malignant.  [Cf.  T.  G.  V.,  IV,  i,  22:  "Crooked  for- 
tune."] 

8.  confound.  See  note  on  5,  6. 

9.  transfixe.  Schmidt:  Transplace,  remove.  [The  word  does  not  occur  else- 
where in  Sh.,  and  I  know  not  where  Schmidt  can  have  got  his  rendering.  Surely 
the  word  is  generally  understood  in  its  common  meaning,  of  a  Time  like  him  of 
Browne's  epitaph,  who  may  be  expected  to  "throw  a  dart  at  thee."  —  Ed.] 
florish.  M alone:  External  decoration.  Schmidt:  Gloss,  ostentatious  em- 
bellishment.  [Cf.  L.  L.  L.,  II,  i,  14:  "The  painted  flourish  of  your  praise."] 

10.  Malone:  Cf.  2,  1-2;  19,  9.  [With  reference  to  "delves,"  Beeching 
remarks  that  Time  appears  not  only  "with  his  conventional  dart  and  scythe," 


154  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lx 

but  "also  with  a  spade."  But  surely  not  even  Time  would  be  so  cruel  as  to  use 
a  spade  on  the  brow  of  beauty.  —  Ed.] 

ii.  natures  truth.  Tyler:  That  which  is  naturally  and  genuinely  beautiful 
and  excellent,  as  opposed  to  what  is  meretricious  and  artificial.  [So  Beeching.] 
[For  "truth,"  see  note  on  54,  2.  May  not  the  reference  be  simply  to  the  rare 
things  created  by  the  fidelity  of  Nature?  —  Ed.] 

13.  times  in  hope.  Bulloch  explains  his  emendation  by  saying  that 
"Time's  own  hour"  is  "the  last  hour  of  time  or  consummation  of  all  things," 
and  calls  attention  to  the  personification  in  the  following  line.  (p.  283.)  Dow- 
den:  Future  times.  Beeching:  Schmidt  takes  "in  hope"  with  "stand,"  but 
the  previous  line  shows  that  "stand"  is  used  absolutely  for  "endure."  [For 
"in  hope"  with  the  meaning  "future,"  cf.  T.  of  A.,  IV,  iii,  527:  "Benefit  .  .  . 
either  in  hope  or  present."  —  Ed.] 

Beeching:  Note  the  contrast  between  the  smoothness  of  the  first  quatrain, 
describing  the  work  of  Time,  in  which  each  line  runs  to  its  end  like  the  ripple 
to  which  it  compares  the  succession  of  minutes,  and  the  second  quatrain,  which 
by  its  slowness  and  repeated  breaks  suggests  the  labour  of  human  life  which 
Time  hinders  at  every  step.    (Intro.,  p.  liii.) 

In  the  MS.  book  referred  to  at  the  end  of  the  notes  on  S.  2,  as  having  been 
in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Bertram  Dobell,  is  a  kind  of  composite  sonnet  made  up 
of  lines  5-12  of  S.  60  and  lines  3-8  of  S.  65.  The  lines  from  S.  60  include  no 
textual  peculiarities. 


lxi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  155 

61 

Is  it  thy  wil,  thy  Image  should  keepe  open 

My  heauy  eielids  to  the  weary  night? 

Dost  thou  desire  my  slumbers  should  be  broken, 

While  shadowes  like  to  thee  do  mocke  my  sight? 

Is  it  thy  spirit  that  thou  send'st  from  thee  5 

So  farre  from  home  into  my  deeds  to  prye, 

To  find  out  shames  and  idle  houres  in  me, 

The  skope  and  tenure  of  thy  Ielousie? 

O  no,  thy  loue  though  much,  is  not  so  great,  9 

It  is  my  loue  that  keepes  mine  eie  awake, 

Mine  owne  true  loue  that  doth  my  rest  defeat, 

To  plaie  the  watch-man  euer  for  thy  sake. 

For  thee  watch  I,  whilst  thou  dost  wake  elsewhere, 
From  me  farre  of,  with  others  all  to  neere. 

3.  slumbers]  slumber  But. 

6.  prye,]  pry  ?  G,  E. 

8.  tenure]  tenour  C,  M,  etc.  (except  Wy,  Wa). 

14.  of]  off  G,  etc.  all  to  neere]  all  too  neare  1640,  G 1:  all  too  near  G2,  S,  E,  C, 
Co,  Hu,  Dy,  CI,  Gl,  Wh,  etc.;  all-too-near  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Del,  Sta;  ail-too  near 
Kly. 

Massey:  A  palpable  continuation  of  [S.  43,  being  one  of  the  group  of  sonnets 
on  a  journey,  (p.  91.)  See  notes  on  S.  43,  for  the  resemblance  to  Sidney's 
A.  fif  S.  38.]   Rolfe:  [Cf.  Sonnets  27-28.] 

Dowden:  The  jealous  feeling  of  S.  57  reappears  in  this  sonnet. 

1-3.  open  ...  broken.  [Wyndham  notes  the  "assonantal  rhyme."  Cf. 
remembered:  tendered  in  S.  120.]  Price  [comments  on  the  unexpected  imperfect 
rhyme  as  "delicious."'  (p.  371.)] 

4.  Wyndham:  Cf.  43,  11-12.   For  "shadows,"  see  note  on  37,  10. 

7.  shames.  Fleay  [couples  this  with  72,  13;  see  his  note  on  that  line.] 
idle  houres.  Dowden:  Cf.  Dedication  of  V.&A.:"I...  vow  to  take  advan- 
tage of  all  idle  hours." 

8.  tenure.  Wyndham  [(see  textual  notes),  keeping  the  Q  spelling,  refers  to 
his  note  on  the  word  in  Lucrece  13 10,  where  he  interprets  it  in  the  legal  meaning 
of  the  transcript  or  copy  of  an  instrument.  Miss  Porter,  defending  the  same 
form  of  the  word,  defines  it  (for  both  passages)  as  a  paper  or  other  container. 
Whatever  may  be  the  appropriateness  of  these  renderings  for  the  line  in 


156  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lxii 

Lucrece,  I  am  quite  unable  to  understand  either  of  them  as  applied  to  the  pres- 
ent passage,  where  the  usual  Shakespearean  meaning  of  the  word  (spelled  both 
"tenor"  and  "tenure"  in  old  texts),  viz.,  essential  content  or  meaning,  is 
obviously  applicable.  —  Ed.] 

9.  Beeching:  The  half-amused,  half-despondent  answer  to  the  sad  ques- 
tions in  the  first  two  quatrains  is  given  in  a  line  of  almost  choking  rhythm. 
(Intro.,  p.  liv.)  Walsh:  This  line  suits  much  better  the  character  of  the  dis- 
dainful mistress  than  that  of  the  faithful  friend. 

11.  defeat.  Schmidt:  Destroy. 

13-14.  [Isaac  regards  these  lines  as  meaningless  unless  addressed  to  a 
woman.  (Archiv,  61:  419.)] 


62 

Sinne  of  selfe-loue  possesseth  al  mine  eie, 

And  all  my  soule,  and  al  my  euery  part; 

And  for  this  sinne  there  is  no  remedie, 

It  is  so  grounded  inward  in  my  heart. 

Me  thinkes  no  face  so  gratious  is  as  mine,  5 

No  shape  so  true,  no  truth  of  such  account, 

And  for  my  selfe  mine  owne  worth  do  define, 

As  I  all  other  in  all  worths  surmount. 

But  when  my  glasse  shewes  me  my  selfe  indeed  9 

Beated  and  chopt  with  tand  antiquitie, 

Mine  owne  selfe  loue  quite  contrary  I  read 

Selfe,  so  selfe  louing  were  iniquity, 

T'is  thee  (my  selfe)  that  for  my  selfe  I  praise, 
Painting  my  age  with  beauty  of  thy  daies, 

4.  my]  the  G2. 

7.  for  .  .  .  do]  for  .  .  .  so  Walker  conj.,  Del  conj.;  so  ...  do  Lettsom  conj., 
Hu2;  for  .  .  .  to  Kt.       owne]  one  S2,  E. 

8.  As  I]  /  do  C.       worths]  worth  But. 

10.  Beated]  'Bated  M1;  Bated  Walker  conj.,  Hu2,  R;  Blasted  Stee  conj.; 
Beaten  Co  conj.,  Kinnear  conj.,  Hu1,  Wh.  chopt]  chapp'd  Dy,  Sta,  Wh1,  Co5, 
Hu2. 

11.  selfe  loue]  Hyphened  by  L,  etc. 

12.  selfe  louing]  Hyphened  by  G,  etc. 

[This  sonnet  cannot  be  understood  without  realizing  it  as  a  freshly  ingenious 
treatment  of  the  conceit  of  "identity,"  on  which  see  notes  on  22  and  36.  —  Ed.] 


lxii]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  157 

7.  Delius:  [For  "do  define,"  understand  "I  do  define,"  unless  we  emend 
"do"  to  "so."]  Dowden:  Does  "for  myself"  mean  "for  my  own  satisfac- 
tion"? Rolfe:  Perhaps  it  merely  adds  emphasis  to  the  statement.  Wyndham: 
My  definition  of  my  worth  is  such  that,  [etc.]  Beeching:  [If  the  correction  "so 
myself"  were  adopted,  we  should  also  have  to  read  "does  define,"]  as  "myself" 
in  Sh.  is  always  followed  by  the  third  person  of  the  verb.  If  any  correction  is 
made,  it  would  be  better  to  read  "And  /  myself  my  own  worth  so  define,"  but 
it  is  simpler  to  understand  the  omission  of  the  personal  pronoun  understood 
from  "methinks."  [The  late  Professor  A.  G.  Newcomer  interpreted  the  line: 
"I  define  my  own  worth  as  'just  myself,'  —  there  is  no  other  definition  possi- 
ble."  Cf.  "You  alone  are  you,"  84,  2.] 

8.  other.  [For  this  use  in  the  plural,  cf.  Abbott,  §  12,  and  Franz,  §  224.] 
9-10.  On  the  theme  of  the  poet's,  age,  see  notes  on  22,  1.    R.  G.   White 

[calls  line  10]  a  very  perplexing  line,  which  seems  to  imply  that  the  poet  was 
not  speaking  in  his  own  person.  Von  Friesen:  In  itself  it  is  not  unnatural  that 
a  man  who  was  married  at  the  age  of  eighteen  and  had  become  a  father  at  the 
completion  of  his  19th  year,  should  think  of  himself  as  growing  old  with  the 
approaching  thirties.  (Altengland  u.  William  Sh.,  p.  341.)  Tyler:  I  am  not 
very  willing  to  accept  the  explanation  that,  on  account  of  the  difference  in  the 
conditions  of  life,  the  signs  of  age  made  their  appearance  sooner  three  centuries 
ago  than  they  do  now.  It  is  more  to  the  purpose  that,  as  compared  with  the 
age  of  Herbert  at  18  ("the  world's  fresh  ornament,  and  only  herald  to  the 
gaudy  spring,"  in  "the  lovely  April"  of  his  prime)  not  only  was  forty  (S.  2), 
but  even  thirty-four  or  thirty-five,  a  somewhat  advanced  age.  This  comparison, 
expressed  or  implied,  should  be  kept  in  view,  and  we  should  certainly  not  lose 
sight  of  the  hue  of  melancholy  which  is  so  clearly  conspicuous  in  many  of  the 
Sonnets  between  64  and  94.  (Intro.,  p.  III.)  [Tyler  is  speaking  here,  it  should 
be  noted,  not  of  the  present  sonnet  but  of  S.  73.  —  Ed.]  W.  C.  Hazlitt:  The 
canon  in  pastoral  poetry  of  all  ages  and  countries  which  licenses  the  fictitious 
assumption  of  years,  .  .  .  assuredly  does  not  apply  here.  Is  it  reasonable  to 
seek  or  accept  any  explanation  except  and  beyond  the  superficial  one?  Is  it 
necessary?  These  exercises  may  be  partly  at  least  ascribed  to  a  stage  in  the 
life  of  Sh.  when  he  had  reached  his  prime;  some  —  one  almost  certainly  —  were 
composed  as  late  as  1603,  when  he  was  39,  and  there  is  no  particular  hazard  .  .  . 
in  setting  down  [Sonnets  2  and  73,  examples  of  this  theme  of  impending  age] 
to  the  very  year  when  the  forty  winters  [of  S.  2]  had  done  their  work,  and  had 
wrought  more  than  average  havoc  on  a  system  worn  by  incessant  intellectual 
labour.    (Sh.,  Himself  and  his  Work,  p.  264.) 

10.  Beated.  Malone:  Perhaps  a  misprint  for  '"bated."  '"Bated"  is  prop- 
erly "overthrown,"  "laid  low,"  "abated,"  from  abattre,  Fr.  .  .  .  "Beated," 
however,  the  regular  participle  from  the  verb  to  "beat,"  may  be  right.  We  had 
in  a  former  sonnet  "weather-beaten  face."  Steevens,  [in  favor  of  "blasted," 
cites  2  H.  4,  I,  ii,  207:]  "Every  part  about  you  blasted  with  antiquity." 
Dowden  [was  led  by  the  word  "tann'd"  to  learn  that  skins  are  submitted  to  a 
process  called  "bating,"  though  he  does  not  take  the  suggestion  seriously.  For 


1 58  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lxii 

the  possible  "bated,"  he  cites  ikf.F.,  Ill,  iii,  32:  "These  griefs  and  losses  have 
so  bated  me."  (For  this  word  Schmidt  gives  the  meaning  "weakened.")] 
Hudson  [also  reading  "bated":]  In  1  H.  4,  III,  iii,  2,  Falstaff  uses  the  word  in 
a  sense  well  suited  to  this  place:  "Am  I  not  fallen  away  vilely?  ...  do  I  not 
bate?  do  I  not  dwindle?"  Tyler  [renders  the  whole  line,  "Battered,  wrinkled, 
and  darkened,"  presumably  connecting  the  first  word  with  "beat."]  Herford: 
Flayed.  Properly  an  agricultural  term  (still  used  in  Devonshire)  for  paring 
away  the  sods  from  moorland.  [But  how  does  old  age  flay  the  face?  —  Ed.] 
Rolfe,  [for  the  participle  in  -ed,  compares  "splitted,"  C.  of  E.,  I,  i,  104; 
"catched,"  L.  L.  L.,  V,  ii,  69;  etc.]  chopt.  Schmidt:  Rent  and  split  with  toil 
or  age.  [The  same  word  as  "chapped "  (see  N.  E. D.)>  which  latter  form  is  not 
found  in  the  early  editions  of  Sh.  —  Ed.]  antiquitie.  Schmidt:  Old  age.  [Cf. 
2  H.  4,  I,  ii,  207,  quoted  above.] 

13.  [This  and  similar  lines  are  the  starting-point  for  Karpf's' esoteric  theory 
that  the  theme  of  the  Sonnets  is  die  ideale  Selbstliebe.  See  also  note  on  22,  5-7.] 
[After  "myself"  Craig  puts  comma  and  dash,  apparently  taking  the  following 
"that"  as  demonstrative,  on  what  grounds  I  cannot  imagine.  —  Ed.] 

Mackay  [takes  this  sonnet  to  represent  Leicester  addressing  the  Queen  (see 
note  on  S.  49) :]  the  feelings  of  his  youth  and  early  prime  are  represented  in  the 
first  eight  lines  of  the  poem  —  those  of  his  present  age  (between  fifty  and  sixty) 
are  expressed  in  the  last  six.  .  .  .  This  series  of  the  sonnets  forms  as  complete  a 
dramatic  poem  as  V.  &  A.  or  Lucrece,  and  .  .  .  depicts  with  consummate 
mastery  of  touch  the  love  of  an  ambitious  man,  grown  old,  for  a  woman  grown 
old  also,  whom  he  loved  (truly  or  selfishly)  in  his  youth,  and  whom  he  continues 
to  love,  or  pretend  to  love,  in  his  declining  years.  (Nineteenth  Century,  16:  257, 
259-) 


lxiii]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  159 

63 

Against  my  loue  shall  be  as  I  am  now 
With  times  iniurious  hand  chrusht  and  ore-worne, 
When  houres  haue  dreind  his  blood  and  fild  his  brow 
With  lines  and  wrincles,  when  his  youthfull  morne 
Hath  trauaild  on  to  Ages  steepie  night,  5 

And  all  those  beauties  whereof  now  he 's  King 
Are  vanishing,  or  vanisht  out  of  sight, 
Stealing  away  the  treasure  of  his  Spring. 
For  such  a  time  do  I  now  fortifie  9 

Against  confounding  Ages  cruell  knife, 
That  he  shall  neuer  cut  from  memory 
My  sweet  loues  beauty,  though  my  louers  life. 
.  His  beau  tie  shall  in  these  blacke  lines  be  seene, 
And  they  shall  Hue,  and  he  in  them  still  greene. 

1.  Against]  Aghast  Bulloch  conj. 

2.  chrusht]  crush' d  G,  etc.;  j 'rush' d  Stee  conj. 

5.  trauaild]  traveVd  G2,  S2,  etc.       steepie]  sleepy  Hu2. 

[Despite  the  fact  that  Dowden  and  Rolfe  speak  of  this  sonnet  as  continu- 
ous with  the  preceding,  the  thought  appears  to  me  much  more  closely  related 
with  that  of  S.  60,  after  which  Walsh  places  it  in  his  rearrangement.  —  Ed.} 

Isaac:  [With  this  sonnet  cf.  Daniel,  Delia,  33: 

I  once  may  see,  when  years  may  wreck  my  wrong, 
And  golden  hairs  may  change  to  silver  wire; 

and  ibid.,  37:  "When  winter  snows  upon  thy  golden  hairs."]   (Jahrb.,  17:  182.) 

2.  injurious.  Walsh:  Cf.  "injurious  time,"  T.  &  C,  IV,  iv,  44,  which  phrase 
occurs  in  Lilly's  Endimion,  I,  i,  and  in  Spenser's  translation  of  Bellay's  Ruins 
of  Rome,  27,  6.  chrusht.  Steevens  [defended  his  emendation,  "frush'd,"  on 
the  ground  that]  to  say  that  a  thing  is  first  "crush'd,"  and  then  "over- worn," 
is  little  better  than  to  observe  of  a  man  that  he  was  first  killed,  and  then 
wounded.  Malone:  To  frush  is  to  bruise  or  batter.  What  then  is  obtained  by 
the  change? 

4.  lines  and  wrincles.  Fleay:  Cf.  Drayton,  S.  44,  2:  "Age  rules  my  lines 
with  wrinkles  in  my  face."  (Biog.  Chron.,  2:  227.)  [Cf.  2,  1-2;  19,  9;  60,  10.  — 
Ed.J 


160  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lxiii 

5.  steepie.  Malone:  I  once  thought  that  the  poet  wrote  "sleepy."  But 
the  word  "travel'd"  shows,  I  think,  that  the  old  copy  is  right,  however  incon- 
gruous the  epithet  "steepy"  may  appear.  [Cf.  7,  5-6,  which  explain  what  is 
meant  by  the  "steepy  night"  of  age.]  Hazlitt:  ["Age's  steepy  night"  is]  the 
precipice  of  age  from  which  we  are  to  plunge  into  darkness.  Dowden,  [com- 
paring, like  Malone,  the  "steep-up  heavenly  hill"  of  S.  7,  explains:]  Youth  and 
age  are  on  the  steep  ascent  and  the  steep  decline  of  heaven.  Lee:  Another 
reminiscence  of  Golding's  translation  of  Ovid's  Metam.,  bk.  xv  (1612  ed., 
p.  186a):  "Through  drooping  age's  steepy  path  he  (i.e.,  man)  runneth  out  his 
race." 

9.  For  such  a  time.  Beeching:  Referring  back  to  line  1,  "Against  [the  time 
when]  my  love  shall  be  crush'd,"  etc.  fortifie.  [Rolfe:  For  the  intransitive  use 
cf.  2  H.  4,  I,  iii,  56:  "We  fortify  in  paper  and  in  figures."]  Lee:  Cf.  Daniel, 
Delia,  S.  50,  9-10: 

These  are  the  arks,  the  trophies  I  erect, 
That  fortify  thy  name  against  old  age. 

10.  knife.  Tyler:  Nearly  equivalent  to  Time's  scythe. 

Brandl  [notes  that  this  sonnet  and  those  that  follow,  to  68,  are  not  directly 
addressed  to  the  friend;  the  poet  writes  as  it  were  "a  tragic  monologue  to  him- 
self."   (p.  xii.)] 

[The  structure  of  the  sonnet  is  unusual  in  that  the  principal  pauses  of  the 
opening  portion  occur  after  line  2,  in  the  middle  of  line  4,  and  at  the  ends  of 
lines  5  and  8.  —  Ed.] 


lxiv]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  161 

64- 

When  I  haue  seene  by  times  fell  hand  defaced 
The  rich  proud  cost  of  outworne  buried  age, 
When  sometime  loftie  towers  I  see  downe  rased, 
And  brasse  eternall  slaue  to  mortall  rage. 
When  I  haue  seene  the  hungry  Ocean  gaine  5 

Aduantage  on  the  Kingdome  of  the  shoare, 
And  the  firme  soile  win  of  the  watry  maine, 
Increasing  store  with  losse,  and  losse  with  store. 
When  I  haue  seene  such  interchange  of  state,  9 

Or  state  it  selfe  confounded,  to  decay, 
Ruine  hath  taught  me  thus  to  ruminate 
That  Time  will  come  and  take  my  loue  away. 
This  thought  is  as  a  death  which  cannot  choose 
But  weepe  to  haue,  that  which  it  feares  to  loose. 

2.  rich  proud]  Hyphened  by  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Kly,  Cam, 
Do,  Ty,  Ox,  But. 

3.  sometime]  sometimes  G,  S,  E.  downe  rased]  Hyphened  by  M,  etc.  (except 
Kly). 

14.  loose]  lose  G2,  S2,  etc. 

Palgrave:  [Sonnets  64-66]  form  one  poem  of  marvelous  power,  insight, 
and  beauty. 

Lee  [views  the  sonnet  as  based  on  Ovid's  account  of]  the  "towers"  of  Athens 
and  Thebes  and  other  cities  of  Greece,  "ruins  of  whose  ancient  works"  were 
overgrown  with  grass.  (Qu.  Rev.,  210:  472.)  [The  resemblance  to  Ovid  had 
been  noticed  by  Walker,  Crit.  Exam.,  1:  152.]  Stopes:  Cf.  Lucrece,  939, 
944-48: 

Time's  glory  is  to  calm  contending  kings,  .  .  . 
To  ruinate  proud  buildings  with  thy  hours, 
And  smear  with  dust  their  glitt'ring  golden  towers; 
To  fill  with  worm-holes  stately  monuments, 
•     To  feed  oblivion  with  decay  of  things, 
To  blot  old  books  and  alter  their  contents. 

4.  brasse  eternall.  [It  is  curious  that  this  use  of  "brass,"  with  its  echo  of 
"aere  perennius,"  etc.,  finds  no  distinct  place  in  the  N.  E.  D.  —  Ed.] 

5-8.  *Capell:  Cf.  2  ff.  4,  III,  i,  46-52: 


162  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lxiv 

And  see  the  revolution  of  the  times 

Make  mountains  level,  and  the  continent 

Weary  of  solid  firmness,  melt  itself 

Into  the  sea!  and,  other  times,  to  see 

The  beachy  girdle  of  the  ocean 

Too  wide  for  Neptune's  hips;  how  chances  mock, 

And  changes  fill  the  cup  of  alteration. 

Steevens:  Cf.  i  H.  4,  111,1,  108-11  [of  the  River  Trent:] 

Mark  how  he  bears  his  course,  and  runs  me  up 
With  like  advantage  on  the  other  side; 
Gelding  the  opposed  continent  as  much 
As  on  the  other  side  it  takes  from  you. 

Rolfe:  Some  critics  have  expressed  surprise  that  Sh.  should  know  anything 
of  these  gradual  encroachments  of  the  sea  on  the  land;  but  they  had  become 
familiar  on  the  east  coast  of  England  before  his  day.  [He  refers  to  his  note  on 
R.  2,  II,  i,  295,  with  reference  to  the  inroads  of  the  sea  which  swept  away  most 
of  the  town  of  Ravenspurg,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Humber,  in  the  14th  century.] 
Lee:  One  more  of  Sh.'s  many  echoes  of  the  philosophic  disquisition  in  Ovid's 
Metam.,  xv: 

Even  so  have  places  often-times  exchanged  their  estate, 
For  I  have  seen  it  sea  which  was  substantial  ground  alate. 
Again  where  sea  was,  I  have  seen  the  same  become  dry  land. 

[These  notes  of  Rolfe  and  Lee  enable  us  to  make  a  typical  choice  between  life 
and  literature  as  sources.  —  Ed.]  Tyler:  Cf.  In  Memoriam,  cxxiii: 

There  rolls  the  deep  where  grew  the  tree. 

O  earth,  what  changes  hast  thou  seen! 

There  where  the  long  street  roars  hath  been 
The  stillness  of  the  central  sea. 

The  hills  are  shadows,  and  they  flow 
From  form  to  form,  and  nothing  stands; 
They  melt  like  mist,  the  solid  lands, 

Like  clouds  they  shape  themselves  and  go. 

8.  Tyler:  Extending  its  own  domain  by  what  the  other  loses,  and  losing  by 
what  the  other  gains,  store.  Schmidt:  Abundance. 

9-10.  state  .  .  .  state.  Schmidt  [defines  the  first  by  "condition,"  the  second 
by  "pomp."  So,  in  effect,  Beeching  and  Tyler;  but  Wyndham  defines  the 
second  as  "condition  in  the  abstract,"  comparing  124,  i,  where,  however,  he  is 
probably  also  mistaken  in  his  interpretation.  For  the  first  use  of  the  word,  cf. 
"estate"  in  the  passage  from  Golding's  Ovid  quoted  above.  —  Ed.] 

13.  Dowden:  This  thought,  which  cannot  choose,  etc.,  is  as  a  death. 

Price:  Not  less  than  10  of  the  14  verses  [of  this  sonnet  are]  linked  by  asso- 
nance on  a.   [By  this]  the  loveliness  of  verse-movement  and  the  unity  of  the 


lxv]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  163 

sonnet-form  .  .  .  are  much  enhanced,  (p.  371.)  G.  H.  Palmer  [instances  the 
sonnet  as  stating  most  compactly  the  pervasive  theme,  as  he  views  it,  of  the 
whole  series,  the  transiency  of  love.  In  this  connection  he  notes  that]  the  word 
"time"  occurs  in  the  Sonnets  78  times;  "death"  21;  "age"  18.   (pp.  16-19.) 


65 

Since  brasse,  nor  stone,  nor  earth,  nor  boundlesse  sea, 
But  sad  mortallity  ore-swaies  their  power, 
How  with  this  rage  shall  beau  tie  hold  a  plea, 
Whose  action  is  no  stronger  then  a  flower? 
O  how  shall  summers  hunny  breath  hold  out,  5 

Against  the  wrackfull  siedge  of  battring  dayes, 
When  rocks  impregnable  are  not  so  stoute, 
Nor  gates  of  Steele  so  strong  but  time  decayes? 
O  fearefull  meditation,  where  alack,  9 

Shall  times  best  Iewell  from  times  chest  lie  hid? 
Or  what  strong  hand  can  hold  his  swift  foote  back, 
Or  who  his  spoile  or  beau  tie  can  forbid? 
O  none,  vnlesse  this  miracle  haue  might, 
That  in  black  inck  my  loue  may  still  shine  bright. 

3.  this]  his  M  conj.,  Walker  conj.,  But. 

5.  hunny]  hungry  1640,  G,  S,  E.  hunny  breath]  Hyphened  by  Co,  Hu,  Kly, 
Hal. 

6.  wrackfull]  wreckful  G2,  E,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del1'2,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl, 
Kly,  Wh\  Hal,  Cam,  Do,  But,  Her,  Be,  N. 

10.  chest]  quest  Th  conj.;  theft  Orger  conj. 

11.  his]  this  G,  S,  E. 

12.  or]  on  G,  S,  E;  o'er  C;  of  M,  etc. 

1.  Abbott:  [Between  "since"  and  "brass"  there  is  an  ellipsis  of  "there  is 
neither."  Cf.  note  on  86,  9.  (§  403.)] 

1-2.  Von  Mauntz:  Cf.  Ovid,  Ex  Ponto,  IV,  viii,  49-50: 

Tabida  consumit  ferrum  lapidemque  vetustas, 
Nullaque  res  maius  tempore  robur  habet. 

4.  action.  Dowden:  Is  the  word  used  here  in  a  legal  sense?  suggested  per- 
haps by  "hold  a  plea."  Beeching:  There  is  no  reference  ...  to  an  action  at 
law;  for  the  comparison  is  with  the  physical  strength  of  brass,  stone,  etc.  Cf. 
J.C.,  I,  iii,  77:  "A  man  no  mightier  than  thyself  or  me  in  personal  action." 


1 64  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lxv 

5.  hunny.  [For  the  word  as  an  adjective,  cf.  R.  3,  IV,  i,  80:  "Grew  captive 
to  his  honey  words."  —  Ed.] 

5-6.  Beeching:  Summer  is  represented  as  besieged  by  Winter. 

6.  Dowden:  Cf.  63,  9.  wrackfull.  [The  only  occurrence  of  the  word  in  Sh. 
The  regular  Shakespearean  form  of  the  noun  and  verb  is  "wrack."  —  Ed.] 

10.  chest.  Malone:  I, once  thought  Sh.  might  have  written  "quest,"  but 
am  now  convinced  that  the  old  reading  is  right.  .  .  .  [Cf.  "jewels"  and  "chest',' 
in  48,  5  and  9;  R.  2,  I,  i,  180:  "A  jewel  in  a  ten-times-barr'd-up  chest",;  etc.] 
The  chest  of  Time  is  the  repository  where  he  lays  up  the  most  rare  and  curious 
productions  of  nature;  one  of  which  the  poet  esteemed  his  friend.  Steevens: 
Time's  chest  is  the  repository  into  which  he  is  poetically  supposed  to  throw 
thosethings  which  he  designs  to  be  forgotten.   Cf.  T.  &  C,  III,  iii,  145: 

Time  hath,  my  lord,  a  wallet  at  his  back, 
Wherein  he  puts  alms  for  oblivion. 

[And  52,  9:  "So  is  the  time  that  keeps  you  as  my  chest."]  Sharp  [defends  the 
change  to  "quest,"  saying:]  Could  a  jewel  lie  hid  from  a  chest?  It  lies  hid  from 
the  eager  quest  of  destroying  Time.  Butler:  [The  emendation  is  right,]  for 
the  following  line  shows  that  Time  is  supposed  to  be  going  about  in  quest  of  this 
or  that.  Beeching:  The  expression  is  elliptical.  Where  shall  what,  is  Times, 
best  jewel  be  hidden  so  as  to  escape  being  seized  and  locked  up  in  his  chest? 
[For  the  rhythm  of  this  line,  see  note  on  5,  7.  —  Ed.] 

See  note  at  the  end  of  S.  60,  for  the  appearance  of  lines  3-8  in  a  17th  century 
MS.  Line  3  there  reads,  "  O  how  shall  beauty  with  this  rage  hold  plea  " ;  and  in 
line  5  is  the  1640  reading  of  "hungry"  for  "honey."  These  are  the  only 
variants. 


lxvi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  165 

66 

Tyr'd  with  all  these  for  restfull  death  I  cry, 

As.  to  behold  desert  a  begger  borne, 

And  needie  Nothing  trimd  in  iollitie, 

And  purest  faith  vnhappily  forsworne, 

And  gilded  honor  shamefully  misplast,  5 

And  maiden  vertue  rudely  strumpeted, 

And  right  perfection  wrongfully  disgrac'd, 

And  strength  by  limping  sway  disabled, 

And  arte  made  tung-tide  by  authoritie,  9 

And  Folly  (Doctor-like)  controuling  skill, 

And  simple-Truth  miscalde  Simplicitie, 

And  captiue-good  attending  Captaine  ill. 

Tyr'd  with  all  these,  from  these  would  I  be  gone, 
Saue  that  to  dye,  I  leaue  my  loue  alone. 

2.  borne]  lorn  Sta  conj. 

3.  needie]  empty  or  heavy  Sta  conj. 

8.  disabled]  dishabited  Bayne  conj.;  discomforted  anon.  conj. 

11.  simple-Truth]  simple  truth  G,  S,  M,  etc. 

12.  captiue-good]  captive  good  G2,  etc. 

*Capell  [was  the  first  to  call  attention  to  the  resemblance  of  this  sonnet  to 
"  Hamlet's  celebrated  soliloquy."  This  has  been  echoed  by  many  commentators, 
Furnivall  remarking  that  it  "must  surely  be  about  the  Hamlet  time."  The 
lines  especially  in  question  are,  of  course,  those  of  III,  i,  7°"~75: 

For  who  would  bear  the  whips  and  scorns  of  time, 
The  oppressor's  wrong,  the  proud  man's  contumely, 
The  pangs  of  dispriz'd  love,  the  law's  delay, 
The  insolence  of  office,  and  the  spurns 
That  patient  merit  of  the  unworthy  takes, 
When  he  himself  might  his  quietus  make,  etc.] 
Tyler:  The  tone  of  melancholy,  which  has  been  previously  heard,  especially 
since  S.  59,  now  attains  a  greater  intensity.   Massey:  Cf.  Wordsworth's  fine 
passage  [near  the  end  of  The  Prelude,  Bk.  3:] 

And  here  was  Labour,  his  own  bond-slave;  Hope, 
That  never  set  the  pains  against  the  prize; 
Idleness  halting  with  his  weary  clog, 
And  poor  misguided  Shame,  and  witless  Fear, 


166  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lxvi 

And  simple  Pleasure  foraging  for  Death; 

Honour  misplac'd,  and  Dignity  astray; 

Feuds,  factions,  flatteries,  enmity,  and  guile, 

Murmuring  submission,  and  bald  government 

(The  idol  weak  as  the  idolater), 

And  Decency  and  Custom  starving  Truth, 

And  blind  Authority  beating  with  his  staff 

The  child  that  might  have  led  him;  Emptiness 

Followed  as  of  good  omen,  and  meek  Worth 

Left  to  herself  unheard  of  and  unknown.  (p.  151.) 

Copin  [compares  the  mood  of  the  sonnet  with  a  speech  by  Alceste  in  Moliere's 

Misanthrope,  I,  i:] 

Mes  yeux  sont  trop  blesses,  et  la  cour  et  la  ville 

Ne  m'offre  rien  qu'objets  a  m'echauffer  la  bile: 

J'entre  en  une  humeur  noire,  en  un  chagrin  profond, 

Quand  je  vois  vivre  entre  eux  les  hommes  comme  ils  font; 

Je  ne  trouve  partout  que  lache  flatterie, 

Qu 'injustice,  interet,  trahison,  fourberie. 

Je  n'y  puis  plus  tenir,  j 'enrage,  et  mon  dessein 

Est  de  rompre  en  visiere  a  tout  le  genre  humain.         (p.  15.) 

Walsh:  Cf.  Lucrece,  904-07: 

The  patient  dies  while  the  physician  sleeps; 
The  orphan  pines  while  the  oppressor  feeds; 
Justice  is  feasting  while  the  widow  weeps; 
Advice  is  sporting  while  infection  breeds; 

M.V.,  II,  ix,  41-45: 

O,  that  estates,  degrees  and  offices  / 

Were  not  deriv'd  corruptly,  and  that  clear  honour 
Were  purchas'd  by  the  merit  of  the*  wearer! 
How  many  then  should  cover  that  stand  bare! 
How  many  be  commanded  that  command! 

and  T.  of  A.,  IV,  iii,  17-18: 

The  learned  pate 
Ducks  to  the  golden  fool;  all  is  oblique. 

P.  E.  More,  [grouping  the  sonnet  with  the  passages  above  cited  from  Hamlet 
and  Lucrece,  finds  in  all  three]  not  the  mere  commonplace  lament  over  the  in- 
sufficiency of  life,  but  the  poet's  own  very  personal  and  very  bitter  experience. 
.  .  .  The  one  word  that  occurs  to  me  as  expressive  of  his  feeling  is  indignity:  if 
it  were  not  for  the  sound  of  the  word  in  connection  with  so  revered  a  name  I 
should  say  shame  —  indignity  against  the  soilure  that  is  forced  upon  him  from 
contact  with  the  world,  shame  for  his  too  facile  yielding  to  contamination.  [Cf. 
29,  1-2;  36,  9-io;  37,  3;  88,  6-7;  90,  2-3;  112,  1-2;  119,  1-2;  MI,  I.]  (Shelburne 
Essays,  2:  35-37.) 


lxvi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  167 

4.  unhappily.  Schmidt:  Mischievously. 

5.  Tyler:  Cf.  Ecclesiastes,  10:  5-6:  "There  is  an  evil  which  I  have  seen 
under  the  sun:  .  .  .  folly  is  set  in  great  dignity,  and  the  rich  sit  in  a  low  place." 
misplast.  Beeching:  Put  into  high  place  above  its  desert.  Cf.  Pandulph's 
phrase,  "the  misplac'd  John,"  K.J.,  III,  iv,  133. 

8.  disabled.  Collier:  Here  to  be  pronounced  as  four  syllables.  [Elsewhere 
Sh.  treats  "redoubled,"  "enfeebled,"  "unmingled"  in  the  same  way.]  Abbott: 
Liquids  in  dissyllables  are  frequently  pronounced  as  though  an  extra  vowel 
were  introduced  between  them  and  the  preceding  consonant.  (§  477.)  [Some 
of  Abbott's  examples  are  surely  dubious,  but  a  sufficient  number  remain.  — 
Ed.]  [A  considerable  discussion  of  this  word  was  started  by  T.  Bayne,  in  his 
proposal  (N.  &  Q.,  7th  s.,  4:  304)  to  emend  to  "dishabited."  He  argued:]  It 
makes  satisfactory  metre  and  plausible  rhyme;  in  its  Elizabethan  sense  of 
"dislodged"  it  even  strengthens  the  force  and  enriches  the  picturesqueness  of 
the  line;  and  it  is  a  word  elsewhere  used  by  Sh.  with  this  precise  signification; 
e.g.,  K.J.,  II,  i,  220.  [The  editor  (?)  added  a  note  suggesting  "discomforted." 
The  Q  text  was  defended  by  D.  C.  T.  (p.  405):  "There  is  nothing  unmetrical 
in  the  line;  the  word  is  to  be  pronounced  disabeled.1'  Also  by  C.  B.  M.:  "'Dis- 
abled '  is  simply  the  right  word  in  the  place.  Strength  is  turned  to  its  contrary, 
disabled  and  made  weak,  just  as  faith  is  forsworn,  and  maiden  virtue  strum- 
peted."  Later  (5:  61)  Brinsley  Nicholson  wrote  to  the  same  effect,  but  propos- 
ing the  spelling  "disabeled."] 

9.  arte.  Dowden:  Commonly  used  by  Sh.  for  letters,  learning,  science.  Can 
this  line  refer  to  the  censorship  of  the  stage?  Rolfe:  It  may  [refer  to]  legal 
authority  used  to  suppress  freedom  of  speech.  Tyler:  In  [this  and  the  follow- 
ing line]  there  seem  to  be  allusions  to  universities  and  their  technical  phrase- 
ology. This  view  accords  with  the  use  of  "doctor-like,"  and  line  9  (where  "art" 
will  denote  learning)  may  be  taken  to  refer  to  opinions  obnoxious  to  those  in 
authority  being  forbidden  to  be  expressed  and  published.  Garnett  [(Litera- 
ture, 6:  211;  see  also  in  Jahrb.,  37:  285)  thinks  the  reference  is  to  the  threatened 
closing  of  two  theatres  by  the  Privy  Council,  July  28,  1597;  perhaps  also  to 
Henslowe's  difficulty  regarding  Nash's  Isle  of  Dogs,  almost  at  the  same  time.l 

11.  Simplicitie.  M alone:  Folly. 

11-12.  Lowell:  [Cf.  Spenser,  Colin  Clout,  lines  727-28:] 

While  single  Truth  and  simple  Honesty 
Do  wander  up  and  down  despis'd  of  all. 

(Essay  on  Spenser,  Works,  4:  289.) 

12.  [Keightley  and  Tyler  emphasize  the  apparent  personifications  here 
by  printing  "captive  Good"  and  "Captain  111."  Schmidt,  on  the  other  hand, 
lists  "captain"  here  as  used  adjectively.  Through  the  sonnet  generally,  most 
modern  editors  have  hesitated  to  determine  the  matter  of  personification  by 
the  use  of  capitals.  Wyndham  remarks:  "Only  some  of  the  personifications 
have  capitals  in  Q.  ...  I  follow  the  Kelmscott  in  generalising  the  practice." 
Bullen  does  the  same.] 


1 68  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE'         [lxvi 

14.  [It  may  well  be  queried,  with  respect  to  the  person  here  addressed, 
whether  Sh.  would  be  likely  to  speak  of  "leaving  alone,"  through  his  death, 
such  a  personage  as  either  Lord  Pembroke  or  Lord  Southampton.  —  Ed.] 

[This  sonnet  is  unique**in  structure,  —  a  single  sentence,  the  final  couplet, 
completing  the  construction  of  the  opening  phrase.  So  Beeching:]  Sonnets  66 
and  129  are  unlike  the  rest  in  not  being  written  in  quatrains,  though  the  rhymes 
are  so  arranged.  (Intro.,  p.  liii.)  Price  [finds  the  special  charm  of  the  sonnet 
to  be  due]  to  the  skilful  management  of  the  many  polysyllabic  words.  It  is  a 
marvelous  triumph  of  technical  skill,  a  startling  experiment  in  poetic  diction, 
(p.  367.)  Walsh:  For  the  tenfold  succession  of  "And,"  we  may  notice  that 
Spenser  was  likewise  fond  of  repeating  words  at  the  commencement  of  lines, 
though  he  nowhere  equaled  this.  Thus  in  his  Amoretti  we  find  "If"  six  times 
successively  recurring  (15),  "  Nor"  seven  times  (9),  and  "  Her"  eight  times  (64). 

E.  H.  Wilkins  [regards  this  sonnet  as  a  specimen  of  the  Provencal  form 
called  the  enueg:]  The  three  characteristics  of  the  enueg  appear:  the  list,  the 
initial  repetition,  and  the  emphatic  presence  of  a  word  denoting  "annoyance." 
.  .  .  The  word  "tired,"  the  perfect  English  equivalent  for  the  idea  of  enueg, 
introduces  the  poem,  and  recurs  at  the  head  of  the  concluding  couplet.  [Com- 
pare Petrarch,  Canzoniere,  312: 

Ne  per  sereno  ciel  ir  vaghe  stelle, 

Ne  per  tranquillo  mar  legni  spalmati, 

Ne  per  campagne  cavalieri  armati, 

Ne  per  bei  boschi  allegre  fere  e  snelle;  etc.] 

Petrarch,  beyond  doubt,  knew  specimens  of  the  Italian  noia,  and  had  the  type 
in  mind  when  he  composed  this  poem.  The  striking  correspondence  of  Sh.'s 
sonnet  to  the  medieval  formula  can  hardly  indicate  acquaintance  with  Provencal 
or  Italian  poems:  rather  does  it  prove  the  real  humanity  of  the  enueg.  (Mod. 
Philology,  13:  112.) 


lxvii]         THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  169 

67 
Ah  wherefore  with  infection  should  he  Hue, 
And  with  his  presence  grace  impietie, 
That  sinne  by  him  aduantage  should  atchiue, 
And  lace  it  selfe  with  his  societie? 

Why  should  false  painting  immitate  his  cheeke,  5 

And  steale  dead  seeing  of  his  liuing  hew? 
Why  should  poore  beautie  indirectly  seeke, 
Roses  of  shaddow,  since  his  Rose  is  true? 
Why  should  he  Hue,  now  nature  banckrout  is,  9 

Beggerd  of  blood  to  blush  through  liuely  vaines, 
For  she  hath  no  exchecker  now  but  his, 
And  proud  of  many,  Hues  vpon  his  gaines? 

O  him  she  stores,  to  show  what  welth  she  had, 
In  daies  long  since,  before  these  last  so  bad. 

1-2.  Hue,  .  .  .  impietie,]  live?  .  .  .  impiety?  G\  S2,  E;  live,  .  .  .  impiety?  S1. 

6.  steale  dead  seeing]  steal  dead  seeming  C,  Farmer  conj.,  But;  steal  dead 
essence  Bulloch  conj.;  steal,  dead-seeing,  Verity  conj. 

7.  poore]  pure  Co3  conj. 

9.  banckrout]  bankrupt  G,  etc.  (except  Bull). 

10-12.  vaines,  .  .  .  gaines?]  veins?  .  .  .  gains.  G,  etc.  (except  Wy); veins;  .  . . 
gains?  Wy. 
12.  proud]  prov'd  C,  But.     many]  money  Co3  conj. 

It  may  be  worth  remarking  that  this  sonnet  was  chosen  as  the  opening  selec- 
tion for  the  Poems  of  1640. 

3.  Tyler:  His  presence  serving  as  a  veil  to  conceal  corruption. 

4.  lace.  Steevens:  Embellish.  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  Ill,  v,  8:  "What  envious 
streaks  do  lace  the  severing  clouds."  Dowden:  Cf.  Macb.,  II,  iii,  118:  "His 
silver  skin  laced  with  his  golden  blood.'!  Tyler:  May  here  mean  "embellish," 
though  in  passages  which  have  been  quoted  in  proof  the  sense  is  rather  "diver- 
sify." [So  the  N.  E.  D.:  "To  diversify  with  streaks  of  colour."]  Beeching: 
Wear  as  lace. 

5-6.  Wyndham:  An  allusion,  perhaps  primarily,  to  the  imitation  of  the 
friend's  beauty  by  the  use  of  cosmetics  among  his  companions,  but,  as  I  sub- 
mit, also  and  with  deeper  intention,  to  the  "false  art"  of  other  "eternizers," 
viz.,  the  rival  poets.    Cf.'2i,  1-3;  68,  14;  82,  9-14;  83,  1-2;  84,  i-2;85,  1-4. 


170  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE         [lxvii 

Note  that  in  L.  L.  L.,  II,  i,  13-14  ("My  beauty  .  .  .  needs  not  the  painted 
flourish  of  your  praise")  our  poet  compares  "praise"  to  "painting";  and  in 
IV,  iii,  238-39  he  runs  on  from  this  illustration: 

Lend  me  the  flourish  of  all  gentle  tongues,  — 

Fie,  painted  rhetoric!  O,  she  needs  it  not; 
to  a  direct  allusion  to  the  use  of  cosmetics  (258-60) : 

O,  if  in  black  my  lady's  brows  be  deck'd, 

It  mourns  that  painting  and  usurping  hair 

Should  ravish  doters  with  a  false  aspect. 

That  is  to  say,  he  uses  the  term  "painting"  precisely  with  that  double  sense 
which  I  attribute  to  it  here.  Beeching:  The  use  of  cosmetics  and  false  hair  .  .  . 
seems  to  have  been  especially  repugnant  to  Sh.  Cf.  T.N.,  I,  v,  256;  Haml., 
Ill,  i,  150;  M.V.,  III,  ii,  92;  T.  of  A.,  IV,  iii,  144. 

6.  seeing.  Bulloch  [explains  that  his  proposed  "essence"  is  the  philo- 
sophical term,  found  in  Oth.,  IV,  i,  16:  "Her  honour  is  an  essence  that's  not 
seen."  (Studies,  p.  287.)]  Kinnear,  [favoring  the  emendation  "seeming,"  calls 
"seeing"]  an  evident  and  easy  misprint,  which  is  found  in  R.  &  J.,  I,  i,  185, 
where  the  quartos  of  1599  and  1609  have  "welseeing."  (Cruces,  p.  499.) 
Dowden:  ["Dead  seeing"  is]  lifeless  appearance.  [So,  in  effect,  Rolfe, 
Tyler,  and  Lee.]  Verity  [explains  his  punctuation  as  meaning:  Itself  looking 
dead,  steal  from  his  living  hue.]  ["Seeing"  is  found  in  Sh.  as  a  verbal  noun, 
but  not  with  any  such  meaning  as  "semblance,"  whereas  there  are  several 
instances  of  "seeming"  in  that  use.  —  Ed.] 

7.  poore  beautie.  Tyler:  Beauty  indifferent  and  imperfect.  Wyndham: 
Abstract  beauty  personified  and  called  "poor,"  as  abstract  Nature  personified 
(line  9)  is  stated  to  be  "beggar'd."  Beeching:  Insignificant  beauty.  .  .  .  Sh. 
is  usually  faithful  to  rhetorical  parallelism  within  the  quatrain;  and  here  "poor 
beauty"  corresponds  to  "false  painting."  indirectly.  Tyler:  By  artificial 
means.  Verity:  Wrongfully;  cf.  H.  5,  II,  iv,  94: 

He  bids  you  then  resign 
Your  crown  and  kingdom,  indirectly  held 
From  him,  the  native  and  true  challenger. 

8.  Roses  of  shaddow.  Rolfe:  Imaginary  roses.  Tyler:  [Roses  of]  mere 
external  appearance.  [See  notes  on  "shadow"  in  37,  10.  —  Ed.]  Rose.  See 
Wyndham 's  note  on  1,  2. 

11-12.  Von  Mauntz:  Cf.  Sidney,  A.  &  S.,  101,  12-14: 

Nature  with  care  sweats  for  her  darling's  sake; 

Knowing  worlds  pass  ere  she  enough  can  find 

Of  such  heaven  stuff,  to  clothe  so  heavenly  a  mind. 

12.  Dowden:  Nature,  while  she  boasts  of  many  beautiful  persons,  really 
has  no  treasure  of  beauty  except  his. 

13.  stores.  Schmidt:  Preserves.   [Cf.  68,  13.] 

13-14.  [Cf.  this  conceit,  repeated  in  the  following  sonnet,  with  the  notion  of 
comparing  the  friend  with  former  ages  in  Sonnets  59  and  106.  —  Ed.] 


lxvhi]       THE  SONNETS*  OF  SHAKESPEARE  171 

$  68 

Thus  is  his  cheeke  the  map  of  daies  out-worne, 

When  beauty  liu'd  and  dy'ed  as  flowers  do  now, 

Before  these  bastard  signes  of  faire  were  borne, 

Or  durst  inhabit  on  a'liuing  brow: 

Before  the  goulden  tresses  of  the  dead,  5 

The  right  of  sepulchers,  were  shorne  away, 

To  Hue  a  scond  life  on  second  head, 

Ere  beauties  dead  fleece  made  another  gay: 

In  him  those  holy  antique  howers  are  seene,  9 

Without  all  ornament,  it  selfe  and  true, 

Making  no  summer  of  an  others  greene, 

Robbing  no  ould  to  dresse  his  beauty  new, 

And  him  as  for  a  map  doth  Nature  store, 

To  shew  faulse  Art  what  beauty  was  of  yore. 

i.  the  map  of  daies]  Between  commas  in  G2,  S2,  E. 

3.  borne]  born  G,  S,  E,  Kt,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  Gl,  Wh,  Hal,  Cam,  Do,  R,  Ox, 
But,  etc. 
7.  scond]  second  1640,  etc. 
9.  howers]  bowers  von  Mauntz  conj. 
10.  it  selfe]  himself  M  conj.,  But. 

1.  map  of  daies  out-worne.  M alone:  Cf.  Lucrece,  1350:  "This  pattern  of 
the  worn-out  age."  Fleay:  [Cf.  Drayton,  S.  44,  where  the  face  is  called  "the 
map  of  all  my  misery."    (Biog.  Chron.,  2:  227.)] 

3.  faire.  See  note  on  16,  11.   borne.  Wyndham:  Modern  spelling  restricts 
the  poet's  play  on  this  word:  he  employs  it  to  mean  "borne,"  but  also  to  sug- 
gest "born." 
5-8.  M alone:  Cf.  M.V.,  III,  ii,  92-96: 

So  are  those  crisped  snaky  golden  locks, 
Which  make  such  wanton  gambols  with  the  wirid 
Upon  supposed  fairness,  often  known 
To  be  the  dowry  of  a  second  head, 
The  skull  that  bred  them  in  the  sepulchre. 
Halliwell:  Cf.  Drayton,  [Moon- Calf-] 

And  with  large  sums  they  stick  not  to  procure 
Hair  from  the  dead,  yea,  and  the  most  unclean; 
To  help  their  pride  they  nothing  will  disdain. 


I7<2  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE        [lxviii 

[See  also  Beeching's  note  on  67,  5-6.]  Rolfe:  [False  hair]  was  then  com- 
paratively a  recent  fashion.  Stow  says:  "Women's  periwigs  were  first  brought 
into  England  about  the  time  of  the  massacre  of  Paris"  (1572).  Barnaby  Rich, 
in  1615,  says  of  the  periwig-sellers:  "These  attire-makers  within  these  forty 
years  were  not  known  by  that  name.  .  .  .  But  now  they  are  not  ashamed  to  set 
them  forth  upon  their  stalls  —  such  monstrous  mop-poles  of  hair  —  so  propor- 
tioned and  deformed  that  but  within  these  twenty  or  thirty  years  would  have 
drawn  the  passers-by  to  stand  and  gaze."  (Note  on  S.  20.)  Lee:  There  can  be 
little  doubt  that  Sh.  had  in  mind  the  wealth  of  locks  that  fell  about  Southamp- 
ton's neck  [as  "itself  and  true"  in  contrast  with  what  is  here  scorned].  {Life, 
p.  146.)  F.  V.  Hugo:  Dans  Sh.,  ce  n'est  pas  l'homme  seulement  qui  se 
revolte  contre  cette  mode  naissante,  c'est  l'artiste.  Ce  qui  1'indigne,  ce  n'est 
pas  seulement  la  violation  des  tombeaux,  l'outrage  fait  a  la  mort;  c'est  la  viola- 
tion de  la  nature,  c'est  l'outrage  fait  a  la  beaute  vivante.  .  .  .  On  dirait  que  Sh. 
voit  deja  se  projeter  sur  le  ciel  de  l'ideal  comme  une  ombre  de  la  solennelle 
perruque  que  porte  la  tragedie  de  Louis  XIV. 

10.  Without  all  ornament.  Wyndham:  Cf.  M.V.,  III,  ii,  74:  "The  world 
is  still  deceiv'd  with  ornament,"  [and  Bassanio's  whole  tirade  against  it], 
it  selfe.  Malone:  Surely  we  ought  to  read  "himself."  In  him  the  primitive 
simplicity  of  ancient  times  may  be  observed;  in  him,  who  scorns  all  adscititious 
ornaments,  who  appears  in  his  native  genuine  state.  Tyler:  "Itself"  would 
seem  to  be  equivalent  to  "nature  itself."  [One  may  conjecture  that  the  logical 
subject  of  this  part  of  the  quatrain  is  the  beauty  of  the  "antique  hours,"  or  some 
similar  notion.  For  the  use  of  "itself"  without  formal  agreement  with  the  noun 
referred  to,  cf.  Much  Ado,  IV,  i,  83:  "Hero  itself  can  blot  out  Hero's  virtue." 
—  Ed.] 

14.  Art.  For  the  implication  of  "artifice,"  cf.  125,  11. 


lxix]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  173 

69 

Those  parts  of  thee  that  the  worlds  eye  doth  view, 
Want  nothing  that  the  thought  of  hearts  can  mend : 
All  toungs  (the  voice  of  soules)  giue  thee  that  end, 
Vttring  bare  truth,  euen  so  as  foes  Commend. 
Their  outward  thus  with  outward  praise  is  crownd,  5 

But  those  same  toungs  that  giue  thee  so  thine  owne, 
In  other  accents  doe  this  praise  confound 
By  seeing  farther  then  the  eye  hath  showne. 
They  looke  into  the  beauty  of  thy  mind,  9 

And  that  in  guesse  they  measure  by  thy  deeds, 
Then  churls  their  thoughts  (although  their  eies  were  kind) 
To  thy  faire  flower  ad  the  rancke  smell  of  weeds, 
But  why  thy  odor  matcheth  not  thy  show, 
The  solye  is  this,  that  thou  doest  common  grow. 

3.  that  end]  thy  due  G2,  S2,  E;  that  due  Tyr  conj.,  C,  M,  etc. 
5.  Their]  Thy  C,  M1,  Gl,  Cam,  Dy2,  Del3,  Do,  Hu2,  etc.;  Thine  M2,  A,  Kt, 
Co,  B,  Del1'2,  Hu1,  Dy1,  Sta,  CI,  Kly,  Wh1,  Hal. 

8.  farther]  further  Hu. 

10.  thy]  their  anon.  conj. 

11.  churls  their]  their  churl  G2,  S2,  E. 

13.  why]  why?  S,  E. 

14.  The  solye]  The  soyle  1640;  The  soil  C,  Cam,  Del8,  Do,  R,  Ox,  Wy,  But, 
N,  Bull;  The  solve  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del1. 2,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Wh,  Hal, 
Ty,  Her,  Be,  Wa;  The  toil  G,  S,  E;  The  sole  Stee  conj.;  The  foil  Caldecott  conj. 
(MS.);  Th'assoil  anon.  conj. 

3.  end.  M alone:  The  letters  that  compose  the  word  "due"  were  probably 
transposed  at  the  press,  and  the  u  inverted. 

4.  Commend.  [This  is  one  of  the  three  words  in  the  Q  whose  capitalization 
Wyndham  cannot  explain,   (p.  264.)] 

5.  Their.  For  the  error,  see  note  on  26,  12. 
7.  confound.  See  note  on  5,  6. 

9.  beauty  of  thy  mind.  Tyler:  Said  possibly  not  without  a  shade  of  irony. 

10.  thy.  Beeching:  An  early  and  anonymous  conjecture  is  "their."  And 
we  may  ask,  Why  should  people  be  called  "churls"  for  judging  a  man  by  his 
own  deeds?  Moreover,  the  ensuing  sonnet  seems  to  say  that  the  common 
opinion  is  slander.   But  a  line  in  121,  12,  "By  their  rank  thoughts  my  deeds 


174  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lxix 

must  not  be  shown,"  implies  that  deeds  are  capable  of  various  interpretations, 
and  the  impression  we  get  from  the  sonnet  is  that  the  poet  believes  (or  tries  to 
believe)  his  friend  to  be  really  good  despite  certain  lapses.   See  95,  13. 

13.  But.  Kinnear  [regards  the  word  as  being  transposed;  it  really  belongs 
in  the  next  line:  "the  soil  is  but  (i.e.,  only)  this,"  etc.]    (Cruces,  p.  499.) 

14.  solye.  See  the  textual  notes  for  the  weight  of  opinion  regarding  this 
word.  Malone:  ("Solve"  =  solution.]  ...  I  have  not  found  the  word  ...  in 
any  author:  but  have  inserted  it  rather  than  print  what  appears  to  me  unin- 
telligible. Steevens:  I  believe  we  should  read  "The  sole  is  this";  i.e.,  here  the 
only  explanation  lies,  this  is  all.  Clark  &  Wright:  As  the  verb  "to  soil"  is 
not  uncommon  in  old  English,  meaning  "to  solve,"  as,  for  example:  "This 
question  could  not  one  of  them  all  soile"  (Udal's  Erasmus,  Luke,  fol.  154b),  so 
the  substantive  "soil"  may  be  used  in  the  sense  of  "solution."  The  play  upon 
words  thus  suggested  is  in  the  author's  manner.  Verity:  "Soil"  means 
"blemish";  cf.  Rami.,  I,  iii,  15  ("No  soil  nor  cautel  doth  besmirch  the  virtue 
of  his  will");  the  sense  being,  "the  fault  which  prevents  your  odour  .  .  .  from 
matching  your  show  is  the  fact  that  you  grow  common."  [The  N.  E.  D.  lists 
both  "soil"  and  "solve,"  with  the  meaning  "solution,"  this  line  being  the  sole 
reference  in  each  case;  but  with  an  apparent  preference  for  the  former  reading.] 
common.  Beeching:  Too  little  choice  in  your  company.  Cf.  Cor.,  II,  iii,  101: 
"  I  have  not  been  common  in  my  love."  Walsh  [connects  the  word  with  137,  10, 
and  places  this  sonnet  with  that  as  addressed  to  the  mistress.]  Brandl:  The 
bitter  word  reminds  us  of  Hamlet,  where  the  Prince  hurls  it  into  the  face  of  his 
mother  before  the  assembled  court  ["Ay,  madam,  it  is  common"],    (p.  xiii.) 

Godwin  [believes  this  sonnet  to  be  addressed  by  the  poet  to  himself 
(p.  122.)] 

Acheson  [views  both  69  and  70  as]  a  direct  criticism  of  Chapman's  "A 
Coronet  for  his  Mistress  Philosophy,"  as  were  Sonnets  20-21  of  "The  Amorous 
Zodiac."  [The  evidence  adduced  for  this  is  the  phrasing  of  line  3,  which  Ache- 
son  thinks  involves  allusion  to  various  lines  of  Chapman's,  e.g.,  "Alas!  why 
lent  not  heaven  the  soul  a  tongue"  (Ovid's  Banquet);  "Spirit  to  flesh  and  soul 
to  spirit  giving"  (A  Coronet);  and  similar  "soulful  expressions."  (Sh.  &  the 
Rival  Poet,  pp.  124-25.)  Lines  8-9  also  refer  to  some  of  Chapman's  in  The 
Amorous  Zodiac: 

Your  eyes  were  never  yet  let  in  to  see 

The  majesty  and  riches  of  the  mind.  (p.  138.)] 

[With  this  and  the  following  sonnet  cf.  94-96.  —  Ed.] 


lxx]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  175 

70 

That  thou  are  blam'd  shall  not  be  thy  defect, 

For  slanders  marke  was  euer  yet  the  faire, 

The  ornament  of  beauty  is  suspect, 

A  Crow  that  flies  in  heauens  sweetest  ayre. 

So  thou  be  good,  slander  doth  but  approue,  5 

Their  worth  the  greater  beeing  woo'd  of  time, 

For  Canker  vice  the  sweetest  buds  doth  loue, 

And  thou  present'st  a  pure  vnstayined  prime. 

Thou  hast  past  by  the  ambush  of  young  daies,  9 

Either  not  assayld,  or  victor  beeing  charg'd, 

Yet  this  thy  praise  cannot  be  soe  thy  praise, 

To  tye  vp  enuy,  euermore  inlarged, 

If  some  suspect  of  ill  maskt  not  thy  show, 

Then  thou  alone  kingdomes  of  hearts  shouldst  owe. 

1.  are]  art  1640,  etc.  .  '  . 

6.  Their]  Thy  C,  M ,  etc.  woo'd  of  time]  wood  of  time  C*  conj .  (M1) ;  wood  of  time 
C*  conj.  (M2);  weigh' d  of  time  Del  conj. ;  woo'd  of  crime  Sta  conj. ;  woo'd  of  time  But. 
13.  ill  maskt]  ill  maske  1640,  G1;  ill,  mask  G2,  S,  E. 

This  sonnet  has  awakened  discussion  chiefly  through  its  apparent  inconsist- 
ency with  others  commonly  taken  as  addressed  to  the  same  person.  Critics 
undertake  interpretations,  naturally,  according  as  they  view  the  unity  and 
continuity  of  the  Sonnets  in  general.  Gervinus:  Compare  the  joyful  wanton- 
ness with  which,  in  the  former  untroubled  days,  the  most  opposite  reproaches 
had  been  made!  .  .  .  Here  how  discontented;  "he  has  passed  the  ambush"; 
there,  so  contented:  "temptation  follows  him,  and  the  pretty  wrongs  befit  him 
well."  A  greater  austerity,  it  must  be  admitted,  appears  in  these  later  sonnets, 
and  in  such  a  manner  as  allows  us  to  infer  a  change  of  mind  in  the  poet;  yet  we 
hear  in  them  still  more  plainly  the  voice  of  jealousy,  which  grudges  to  the  world 
and  its  judgment  both  his  friend's  virtues  and  faults.  (Trans.,  ed.  1883,  p.  458.) 
Dowden  [ignores  the  difficulty,  being  content  to  connect  the  sonnet  with  the 
next  preceding,  and  remarking  that  the  poet  here  "defends  his  friend  from  the 
suspicion  and  slander  of  the  time."]  Tyler:  His  friend's  prime  was  unstained, 
such  an  affair  as  that  with  the  poet's  mistress  not  being  regarded,  apparently, 
as  involving  serious  moral  blemish.  Moreover,  there  had  been  forgiveness;  and 
the  special  reference  here  may  be  to  some  charge  of  which  Mr.  W.  H.  was  inno- 
cent.  But  (as  in  79)  Sh.  can  scarcely  escape  the  charge  of  adulation.   Rolfe: 


176  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lxx 

[If  the  person  addressed  here]  is  the  same  young  man  who  is  so  plainly,  though 
sadly  and  tenderly,  reproved  in  33-35,  this  sonnet  must  have  been  written 
before  those.  .  .  .  Mr.  Tyler's  attempt  to  show  that  this  sonnet  is  not  out  of 
place  is  a  good  illustration  of  the  "tricks  of  desperation"  to  which  a  critic  may 
be  driven  in  defence  of  his  theory.  (Intro.,  rev.  ed.,  p.  26.)  Gollancz  [swal- 
lows the  camel  at  once,  so  to  say :]  The  faults  referred  to  in  the  earlier  sonnets 
are  not  only  forgiven,  but  here  imputed  to  slander.  Lee:  The  young  man  whom 
the  poet  addresses  [here]  is  credited  with  a  different  disposition  and  experience 
[from  that  of  the  youth  rebuked  in  32-35,  40-42,  95-96.]  {Life,  p.  99.)  [From 
this  one  would  suppose  that  Lee  took  the  sonnet  to  be  addressed  to  a  different 
person  from  the  earlier  ones;  but  on  p.  147  he  treats  it  as  being  of  a  considerably 
later  date,  on  the  ground  that  "the  poet  no  longer  credits  his  hero  with  juvenile 
wantonness,  but  with  a  'pure,  unstained  prime.'"  How  this  change  can  be 
explained  by  assuming  the  lapse  of  some  years,  except  through  a  misunder- 
standing of  Sh.'s  use  of  "prime,"  I  am  unable  to  see.  —  Ed.]  Acheson,  [on  the 
other  hand,  thinks  that  the  tone  of  this  sonnet  indicates]  a  period  anterior  to 
the  indiscretion  of  Southampton  with  the  poet's  mistress  recorded  in  33-35  and 
40-42.  I  would  therefore  give  these  two  sonnets  [69-70]  a  very  early  date. 
(Sh.  &  the  R.  P.,  p.  123.)  Beeching:  The  reconciliation  would  possibly  be 
simple  if  we  knew  all  the  facts;  but  even  in  the  sonnets  themselves  two  facts 
are  absolutely  luminous:  First,  that  it  was  the  mistress  who  courted  the  friend 
rather  than  the  friend  who  courted  the  mistress  (46,  62,  133,  134).  .  .  .  The 
second  fact  is  that  the  group  of  sonnets  in  which  70  is  included  implies  that  the 
friend  had  been  keeping  bad  company  and  doing  things  which  brought  his  name 
into  bad  repute.  [See  69,  9-10,  where  it  is  implied  that  the  friend's  deeds]  were 
not  good  deeds.  S.  70  indubitably  follows  69;  but  it  is,  on  the  surface,  as  incon- 
sistent with  it  as  with  the  group  33-35.  Whether  the  explanation  be  that  Sh. 
was  hoping  the  best  and  giving  precept  in  the  form  of  praise,  we  cannot  say;  but 
the  point  to  notice  here  is  that  as  69  and  70  cannot  be  separated,  the  incon- 
sistency cannot  be  got  rid  of  by  the  hypothesis  of  more  friends  than  one.  (Intro., 
p.  lxiv.)  [This  is,  however,  to  beg  the  question;  since  if  the  order  is  not  regarded 
as  fixed  by  the  Q,  69  may  not  belong  with  70,  but  —  for  example  —  with  94-96, 
where  Walsh  puts  it.  In  other,  words,  the  possibility  of  reading  69  and  70  con- 
tinuously and  consistently  is  precisely  one  of  the  questions  to  be  considered 
in  determining  the  authenticity  of  the  Q  order.  —  Ed.]  Walsh  :  This  sonnet 
cannot  be  addressed  to  the  friend  of  former  sonnets,  unless  after  he  has  grown 
to  manhood.  Horace  Davis:  May  we  interpret  these  difficult  lines  thus:  the 
friend's  "prime"  was  his  early  youth;  this  had  been  pure  and  unstained;  while 
his  "young  days,"  meaning  his  early  manhood,  were  "ambushed"  indeed;  but 
he  had  escaped  from  the  snares  (this  may  refer  to  his  intrigue  with  the  dark 
woman,  with  whom  he  was  no  longer  entangled),  and  now  that  all  was  over 
Sh.  refuses  to  believe  the  scandal,  and  maintains  the  "sweet  flattery"  that  it 
was  only  the  slanderous  "thoughts"  (69,  11)  of  his  churlish  enemies  that 
wronged  him;  he  admits,  however,  that  his  friend  had  given  reason  for  the 
charge  that  "thou  dost  common  grow." 


lxx]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  177 

2.  Verity:  [Cf.  Marlowe,  Hero  &  Leander,  i,  285-86: 

Whose  name  is  it,  if  she  be  false  or  not, 

So  she  be  fair,  but  some  vile  tongues  will  blot? 

M.for  M.,  Ill,  ii,  196-98: 

No  might  nor  greatness  in  mortality 

Can  censure  scape;  back- wounding  calumny 

The  whitest  virtue  strikes; 

and  Sophocles,  Ajax,  I54f.:  "Point  thine  arrow  at  a  noble  spirit,  and  thou 
shalt  not  miss."]  Rolfe:  Cf.  Kami.,  Ill,  i,  139-40:  "Be  thou  as  chaste  as 
ice,  as  pure  as  snow,  thou  shalt  not  escape  calumny." 

3.  M alone:  Slander  is  a  constant  attendant  on  beauty,  and  adds  new 
lustre  to  it.  [For  "suspect"  as  a  noun,  cf.  2  H.  6,  III,  i,  140:  "That  you  will 
clear  yourself  from  all  suspect."]  [Cf.  line  13.  —  Ed.] 

5.  approve.  Schmidt:  Prove. 

6.  woo'd  of  time.  M alone:  I  strongly  suspect  [these  words]  to  be  corrupt. 
.  .  .  Perhaps  the  poet  means  that,  however  slandered  his  friend  may  be  at 
present,  his  worth  shall  be  celebrated  in  all  future  time.  Steevens:  [Perhaps 
we  may  interpret:]  If  you  are  virtuous,  slander,  being  the  favourite  of  the  age, 
only  stamps  the  stronger  mark  of  approbation  on  your  merit.  I  have  already 
shewn,  on  the  authority  of  Ben  Jonson,  that  "of  time"  means,  of  the  then 
present  one.  [This  in  a  note  on  Haml.,  Ill,  i,  70.  In  the  same  connection 
Boswell  cites  E.  M.  out  of  his  H.,  "Oh  how  I  hate  the  monstrousness  of 
time";  and  Bedingfield,  1576:  "Disorder  of  tyme,  terroure  of  warres,"  etc.] 
*Capell:  Might  we  not  read:  "being  wood  of  time"?  taking  "wood"  for 
an  epithet  applied  to  slander,  signifying  frantic,  doing  mischief  at  random. 
Sh.  often  uses  this  old  word.  Hazlitt:  Beloved  by  future  time?  Walker 
[develops  Steevens's  suggestion  of  "time"  as  "the  time,"  comparing  117,  6; 
Jonson's  Pindaric  Ode,  "He  vexed  time,  and  busied  the  whole  state";  etc. 
(Crit.  Exam.,  3:  360.)]  Dowden  [quotes  Hunter,  New  Illus.  of  Sh.,  2:  240,  to 
the  same  effect,  and  adds:]  "  Being  woo'd  of  time"  seems,  then,  to  mean  being 
solicited  or  tempted  by  the  present  times.  Tyler:  This  must  be  taken,  it 
would  seem,  with  "slander"  of  line  5.  The  sense  then  will  be  that  "slander 
coming  under  the  soothing  influence  of  time  will  show  thy  worth  to  be  greater"; 
or,  "slander  will  turn  to  praise  in  course  of  time."  Wyndham:  I  suggest  that 
"time"  here,  as  elsewhere  in  the  Sonnets,  =  not  "the  time"  or  "the  times" 
but  Time  personified.  Cf.  117,  6  [where,  however,  the  meaning  is  also  disputed. 
—  Ed.]  .  .  .  The  sense  is:  If  only  you  be  virtuous,  slander  doth  but  approve 
your  worth  the  greater,  since  you  are  woo'd  by  Time  ( =  wooed  and  not  yet 
won  by  Time,  an  object  still  for  Time's  solicitation),  for  you  are  in  your  "pure 
unstained  prime."  [Butler,  and  later  Mrs.  Stopes,  think  the  difficulty  is 
solved  by  adopting  the  emendation  "of time."]  Beeching:  Courted  by  the 
world.  For  "time"  in  this  sense,  cf.  S.  117,  6,  where  it  is  paraphrased  by  "un- 
known minds";  Haml.,  Ill,  i,  70  ("the  whips  and  scorns  of  time"),  etc.  Lee: 
Wooed  by  the  temptations  either  of  the  season  of  youth  or  of  the  present  age. 


178  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lxx 

[All  these  commentators  assume  the  correction  of  "Their"  to  "Thy"  (see  26, 
12,  etc.);  but  Miss  Porter  would  keep  it,  reading:]  The  worth  of  those  whose 
distinction  is  such  that  Time  [i.e.,  the  period]  woos  them,  being  the  greater  for 
that,  and  greater  than  that  of  those  who  therefore  woo  them,  and  slander  them. 
7.  *Capell:  Cf.  T.  G.  V.,  I,  i,  42: 

As  in  the  sweetest  bud 
The  eating  canker  dwells,  so  eating  love 
Inhabits  in  the  finest  wits  of  all. 

Walsh:  Cf.  35,  4. 

10.  Either.  [For  the  metrical  treatment  of  this  word  as  a  monosyllable,  see 
Abbott,  §  466.] 

II— 12.  soe  .  .  .  To.  [For  the  omission  of  "as"  in  such  relatival »construc- 
tions,  see  Abbott,  §  281;  cf.  M.V.,  III,  iii,  9-10:  "So  fond  to  come  abroad."] 

12.  Dowden:  Prof.  Hales  writes  to  me:  "Surely  a  reference  here  to  F.  Q., 
end  of  Bk.  vi.  Calidore  ties  up  the  Blatant  Beast;  after  a  time  he  breaks  his 
iron  chain,  'and  got  into  the  world  at  liberty  again,'  i.e.,  is  'evermore  enlarged.' " 
[For  the  meaning  of  "enlarge,"  cf.  H. 5,  II,  ii,  40:  "Enlarge  the  man  committed 
yesterday."  —  Ed.] 

13-14.  Isaac:  Cf.  96,  11-12.   (Archiv,  62:  19.) 

14.  owe.  Cf.  18,  10. 

Isaac  [considers  it  to  be  impossible  to  apply  to  the  friend  such  lines  as  9-10 
and  13-14;  on  the  other  hand  they  are]  well  matched  with  the  other  verses 
addressed  to  a  young,  attractive,  and  much  courted  woman,  whose  coquettish 
nature  has  awakened  a  certain  distrust  of  her  purity.    (Archiv,  62:  19.) 

Godwin  [views  the  sonnet,  like  69,  as  a  soliloquy;  the  poet  says  to  himself:] 
If  thou  art  really  meritorious  such  slander  proves  thy  worth  the  greater,  and 
particularly  when  it  is  invited  by  or  instigated  by  thy  youth,    (p.  121.) 


lxxi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  179 

7i 

Noe  Longer  mourne  for  me  when  I  am  dead, 

Then  you  shall  heare  the  surly  sullen  bell 

Giue  warning  to  the  world  that  I  am  fled 

From  this  vile  world  with  vildest  wormes  to  dwell: 

Nay  if  you  read  this  line,  remember  not,  5 

The  hand  that  writ  it,  for  I  loue  you  so, 

That  I  in  your  sweet  thoughts  would  be  forgot, 

If  thinking  on  me  then  should  make  you  woe. 

O  if  (I  say)  you  looke  vpon  this  verse,  9 

When  I  (perhaps)  compounded  am  with  clay, 

Do  not  so  much  as  my  poore  name  reherse; 

But  let  your  loue  euen  with  my  life  decay. 

Least  the  wise  world  should  looke  into  your  mone, 

And  mocke  you  with  me  after  I  am  gon. 

2.  Then]  When  S,  E,  C;  Than  M,  etc. 
4.  vildest]  vilest  G,  etc. 

Beeching:  Just  as  in  the  plays  we  see  the  perfect  balance  between  the 
lyrical  and  intellectual  impulses  begin  to  be  overset  in  Hamlet,  while  in  such 
plays  as  Cor.  and  T.  &  C.  the  intellectual  impulse  has  triumphed,  so  among 
the  sonnets  we  seem  able  to  distinguish  some,  such  as  the  group  71-74,  which 
correspond  to  the  Hamlet  period,  and  others,  such  as  123-124,  which  suggest 
affinities  with  T.  &  C.   (Intro.,  p.  li.) 

2.  Malone:  Cf.  2  H.  4,  I,  i,  102:  "A  sullen  bell,  remember'd  knolling  a 
departed  friend." 

4.  vildest.  [This  "corrupt  form  of  vile"  {Cent.  Diet.)  is  very  common  in  the 
original  Shakespearean  texts.  —  Ed.] 

10.  Malone:  Cf.  2  H.  4,  IV,  v,  116:  "Only  compound  me  with  forgotten 
dust." 

1   See  note  at  the  end  of  S.  32  for  a  MS.  version  of  this  sonnet.    The  only  vari- 
ant reading  —  according  to  Lee's  transcript  —  is  "  me  "  for  "  you  "  in  line  8. 


180  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE         [lxxii 

72 

O  Least  the  world  should  taske  you  to  recite, 
What  merit  liu'd  in  me  that  you  should  loue 
After  my  death  (deare  loue)  for  get  me  quite, 
For  you  in  me  can  nothing  worthy  proue. 
Vnlesse  you  would  deuise  some  vertuous  lye,  5 

To  doe  more  for  me  then  mine  owne  desert, 
And  hang  more  praise  vpon  deceased  I, 
Then  nigard  truth  would  willingly  impart : 
O  least  your  true  loue  may  seeme  falce  in  this,  9 

That  you  for  loue  speake  well  of  me  vntrue, 
My  name  be  buried  where  my  body  is, 
And  Hue  no  more  to  shame  nor  me,  nor  you. 
For  I  am  shamd  by  that  which  I  bring  forth, 
And  so  should  you,  to  loue  things  nothing  worth. 

6.  me  then  mine  owne]  me  now,  than  mine  own  G1,  S,  E;  me  now,  than  my  G2. 

4.  prove.  Schmidt:  Ascertain,  find.   [Cf.  153,  7.] 

5.  vertuous  lye.  Verity:  Did  Sh.  know  of  Plato's  yevpaiov  \f/ev5os  or  Horace's 
splendide  mendax?  Cf.  Webster,  D.  of  Mai.,  Ill,  ii:  "Such  a  feigned  crime  as 
Tasso  calls  Magnanima  menzogna,  a  noble  lie." 

7.  I.  Abbott:  Euphony  and  emphasis  may  have  successfully  contended 
against  grammar.  This  may  explain  "I"  in  "and  I,"  "but  I,"  frequently  used 
for  me.  .  .  .  The  sound  of  d  and  /  before  "me"  was  avoided.  [Of  the  present 
example]  the  rhyme  is  an  obvious  explanation.    (§§  205,  209.) 

6.  desert.  For  the  rhyme  with  "impart,"  cf.  note  on  11,  4. 

9-10.  Tyler:  Lest  the  reality  of  your  love  for  me  should  be  questioned  or 
denied,  when  the  falsity  of  your  eulogies  has  been  detected.  [Schmidt  and 
Rolfe  also  take  "untrue"  to  be  an  adverb  (=  untruly);  but  Wyndham  may 
be  right  in  suggesting  that  it  is  in  agreement  with  "me."  He  paraphrases,  "Of 
me  whose  poetry  is  imperfect."  Or  it  may  have  the  general  meaning  "un- 
worthy." See  note  on  "truth"  in  54,  2.  —  Ed.] 

12.  shame.  Wyndham:  Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  poet  uses  terms  of  moral 
censure  when  delivering  an  artistic  judgment.  The  next  two  lines  prove  that 
the  "shame"  is  for  the  verses  he  brings  forth. 

13.  Fleay:  [The  line  merely  refers  to  criticism  of  his  dramatic  works  as 
inferior,  in  contemporary  opinion,  to  his  poems.]  This  word  "shame"  has  the 
same  meaning  all  through  these  sonnets,  .  .  .  nothing  more  than  the  feeling 


lxxiii]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  181 

produced  by  unfavorable  critical  opinions.  [Cf.  S.  1 12.]  (Mactn.  Mag.,  31 :  434.) 
Porter:  The  entire  tenor  of  the  sequence  shows  that  the  artistic  judgment  is 
not  [Sh.'s]  own  so  much  as  that  of  the  world  of  which  he  is  conscious  and  to 
which  he  is  so  sensitive  that  he  is  ready  to  abandon  artistic  fame  in  the  external 
sense,  for  that  genuineness  of  expression  constituting  real  livingness  in  his  verse. 
[When  I  compare  this  sonnet  with  36  and  112,  treating  also  the  "shame" 
motif,  I  feel  less  certain  than  the  commentators  appear  to  that  it  deals  wholly 
or  primarily  with  literary  reputation.  —  Ed.] 

14.  Beeching:  The  first  notice  that  Sh.'s  friend  takes  any  interest  in  his 
poems. 


73 
That  time  of  yeeare  thou  maist  in  me  behold, 
When  yellow  leaues,  or  none,  or  few  doe  hange 
Vpon  those  boughes  which  shake  against  the  could, 
Bare  rn'wd  quiers,  where  late  the  sweet  birds  sang. 
In  me  thou  seest  the  twi-light  of  such  day,  5 

As  after  Sun-set  fadeth  in  the  West, 
Which  by  and  by  blacke  night  doth  take  away, 
Deaths  second  selfe  that  seals  vp  all  in  rest. 
In  me  thou  seest  the  glowing  of  such  fire,  9 

That  on  the  ashes  of  his  youth  doth  lye, 
As  the  death  bed,  whereon  it  must  expire, 
Consum'd  with  that  which  it  was  nurrisht  by. 

This  thou  perceu'st,  which  makes  thy  loue  more  strong, 
To  loue  that  well,  which  thou  must  leaue  ere  long. 

4.  Bare  rn'wd  quiers]  Bare  ruin'd  quires  1640,  G,  S,  E;  Bare  ruin'd  choirs 
M,  etc.;  Barren' wd  quiers  L;  Barren' d  of  quires  C. 

5.  twi-light]  twi-lights  1640,  G1;  twilights  G2,  S,  E. 

13.  This]  Tis  1640;  'Tis  G,  S,  E. 

14.  leaue]  leese  But  con],  long.]  long:  M,  Kt,  Co  M,  Del,  Dy,  Sta,  Kly,  Wh1, 
Hal,  Hu2,  Ty. 

1-4.  M alone:  Cf.  Cymb.,  Ill,  iii,  60-64: 

Then  was  I  as  a  tree 
Whose  boughs  did  bend  with  fruit;  but  in  one  night, 
A  storm  or  robbery,  call  it  what  you  will, 
Shook  down  my  mellow  hangings,  nay,  my  leaves, 
And  left  me  bare  to  weather; 


1 82  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lxxiii 

and  T.  of  A.,  IV,  iii,  263-66: 

That  numberless  upon  me  stuck  as  leaves 
Do  on  the  oak,  have  with  one  winter's  brush 
Fell  from  their  boughs  and  left  me  open,  bare 
For  every  storm  that  blows. 

Brandl:  Cf.  Spenser,  Sh.  CaL,  January: 

You  naked  trees  whose  shady  leaves,  [etc.]  .  .  . 

All  so  my  lustful  leaf  is  dry  and  sere.  (p.  xiv.) 

4.  quiers.  M alone:  That  part  of  cathedrals  where  divine  service  is  per- 
formed, to  which,  when  uncovered  and  in  ruins,  "A  naked  subject  to  the  weep- 
ing clouds,"  the  poet  compares  the  trees  at  the  end  of  autumn,  stripped  of  that 
foliage  which  at  once  invited  and  sheltered  the  feathered  songsters  of  summer; 
whom  Ford,  a  contemporary  and  friend  of  our  author's,  with  an  allusion  to  the 
same  kind  of  imagery,  calls  (in  his  Lover's  Melancholy)  "the  quiristers  of  the 
woods."  Steevens:  This  image  was  probably  suggested  to  Sh.  by  our  deso- 
lated monasteries.  The  resemblance  between  the  vaulting  of  a  Gothic  aisle, 
and  an  avenue  of  trees  whose  upper  branches  meet  and  form  an  arch  overhead, 
is  too  striking  not  to  be  acknowledged.  When  the  roof  of  the  one  is  shattered, 
and  the  boughs  of  the  other  leafless,  the  comparison  becomes  yet  more  solemn 
and  picturesque.  Wyndham:  This  most  beautiful  image  was  nearer  and  more 
vivid  when  many  great  abbeys,  opened  to  the  weather  within  the  memory  of 
men  living,  were  beginning  to  be  ruins  ere  they  were  forgotten  as  "chantries, 
where  the  sad  and  solemn  priests  sing."  Beeching:  This  superb  sonnet  has 
not  been  without  an  operation  upon  its  commentators,  whose  style  it  has 
raised. 

7.  Steevens:  Cf.  T.  G.  V.,  I,  iii,  87:  "And  by  and  by  a  cloud  takes  all 
away." 

8.  Deaths  second  selfe.  Lee:  Cf.  Daniel's  Delia,  S.  49,  which  describes 
sleep  as  .  .  .  "brother  to  death."  Homer  and  Hesiod  both  call  sleep  the 
"brother  of  death."  The  phrase  is  used  by  Ronsard  and  de  Baif;  [cf.  also 
Desportes:  "O  frere  de  la  mort."]  [It  is  also  possible  that  some  resemblance^ 
between  sleep  and  death  had  occurred  to  a  number  of  persons  before  ever  it 
was  embodied  in  poetry.  —  Ed.] 

9-10.  such  .  .  .  That.  [See  grammatical  notes  on  34,  7-^.]  Abbott:  In  lines 
5-6  "such  as"  is  used,  because  "which"  follows;  in  9-10  "such  that,"  because 
"as"  follows.   (§  279.) 

12.  Dowden:  Wasting  away  on  the  dead  ashes  which  once  nourished  it 
with  living  flame.  Tyler:  The  fire  and  fuel  pass  away  together.  Beeching: 
Choked  by  the  ashes  which  once  nourished  its  flame.  ...  As  ashes  certainly 
can  choke  flame,  so  the  weakness  of  the  body  can  react  upon  the  mental  powersT 

Henry  Reed,  [referring  this  sonnet  to  Sh.'s  later  years  at  Stratford,  ob- 
serves:] We  challenge  the  poetry  of  the  world  against  [the  one  line,  4,  for  the 
image]  illustrative  of  a  poet's  silent  old  age.    (Lectures,  2:  264.)  Price  [finds 


lxxiv]         THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  183 

that  the  sonnet  shows  one  of  the  lowest  percentages  of  foreign  words,  and  is  in] 
the  class  in  which  the  gem-like  radiance  of  Sh.'s  poetical  diction  is  most  keenly 
felt.  (p.  365.)  [See  also  his  note  at  the  end  of  S.  33.]  [For  the  structure  of  the 
sonnet,  the  finest  example  of  the  Shakespearean  mode,  see  note  at  the  end  of 
S.  49.  —  Ed.] 


74 

Bvt  be  contented  when  that  fell  arest, 

With  out  all  bayle  shall  carry  me  away, 

My  life  hath  in  this  line  some  interest, 

Which  for  memoriall  still  with  thee  shall  stay. 

When  thou  reuewest  this,  thou  doest  reuew,  5 

The  very  part  was  consecrate  to  thee, 

The  earth  can  haue  but  earth,  which  is  his  due, 

My  spirit  is  thine  the  better  part  of  me, 

So  then  thou  hast  but  lost  the  dregs  of  life,  9 

The  pray  of  wormes,  my  body  being  dead, 

The  coward  conquest  of  a  wretches  knife, 

To  base  of  thee  to  be  remembred, 

The  worth  of  that,  is  that  which  it  containes, 
And  that  is  this,  and  this  with  thee  remaines. 

1.  contented  when]  contented,  when  G2,  S,  E;  contented:  when  M,  etc.  (except 
Kly,  R2);  contented;  when  Kly,  R2. 
6.  consecrate]  consecrate  L. 
8.  spirit]  sprite  S,  E. 
12.  To]  Too  G,  etc.       remembred]  remembered  G2,  S1,  M,  etc. 

Dowdex:  S.  74  seems  to  me  like  an  envoy.  Perhaps  a  new  MS.  book  begins 
with  75-77. 

1-2.  Beeching:  There  is  perhaps  nothing,  even  in  the  sonnets,  equal  in 
dignity  and  beauty  to  this  calm  opening. 

1.  fell  arest.  *Capell:  Cf.  Haml.,  V,  11,347-48:  "Had  I  but  time,  —  as  this 
fell  sergeant,  death,  is  strict  in  his  arrest." 

2.  all  bayle.  Rolfe:  [Cf.  "without  all  ornament,"  68, 10,  for  the  use  of  all  = 
any.]  Verity:  Said  in  allusion  to  the  legal  phrase  "without  bail  and  main- 
prize,"  a  summary  form  of  arrest. 

3.  interest.  See  note  on  31,  7. 

6.  Tyler:  Cf.  Martial,  Ep.  vii,  84,  "Certior  in  nostro  carmine  vultus  erit." 


1 84  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE        [lxxiv 

The  language  of  our  text  is  stronger,  speaking  of  the  inner  man,  which  is  thor- 
oughly identified  with  the  written  verse  (line  8).  part  was.  [For  the  omission 
of  the  relative,  see  Abbott,  note  on  4,  4.] 

8.  better  part.  Tyler:  [Cf.  Drayton,  Idea,  44:  "Where  I  entomb'd  my 
better  part  shall  save."]  (Intro.,  p.  41.)  Lee:  Cf.  39,  2  [and  note].  Porter: 
Cf.  Horace,  Ode  30:  "  Non  omnis  moriar;  multaque  pars  mei  vitabit  Libitinam." 

11.  Dowden:  Does  Sh.  merely  speak  of  the  liability  of  the  body  to  untimely 
or  violent  mischance?  Or  does  he  meditate  suicide?  Or  think  of  Marlowe's 
death,  and  anticipate  such  a  fate  as  possibly  his  own?  Or  has  he,  like  Marlowe, 
been  wounded?  Or  does  he  refer  to  dissection  of  dead  bodies?  Or  is  it  "con- 
founding age's  cruel  knife"  of  63,  10?  [Furnivall  had  already  made  the  last 
of  these  suggestions,  and  Palgrave  the  next  preceding,  saying  that  the  line] 
must  allude  to  anatomical  dissection,  then  recently  revived  in  Europe  by 
Vesalius,  Fallopius,  Pare,  and  others.  Rolfe:  If  not  a  merely  figurative 
expression,  like  ["age's  cruel  knife,"]  the  key  to  it  is  probably  in  [Dowden's 
first  question:]  this  life  which  is  at  the  mercy  of  any  base  assassin's  knife. 
[Plumptre  (Contemp.  Rev.,  55:584)  argues  for  the  theory  of  meditated  suicide, 
associating  the  passage  with  the  "  fevered  melancholia  "  of  147  and  other  sonnets. 
Tyler  agrees  with  the  "assassin"  theory.  Verity  calls  attention,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  knife  of  63, 10,  to  Time's  " crooked  knife"  in  100,  14.  Von  Mauntz 
(in  a  note  on  100,  14)  compares  the  "death's  sharp  knife"  of  Sidney's  Arcadia 
(Bk.  2;  ed.  1590,  f.  241).]  Wyndham:  Metaphorical:  the  destruction  of  the 
body  by  death  and  its  subsequent  corruption  is  a  squalid  tragedy.  Beeching: 
I  incline  to  Dowden's  last  suggestion,  and  take  the  "wretch"  to  be  Death, 
but  the  image  is  derived  from  the  "arrest  without  bail"  in  lines  1-2.  Death  is 
the  executioner.  For  "coward,"  cf.  M.  for  M.,  Ill,  i,  15:  "Thou'rt  by  no 
means  valiant." 

12.  remembred.  Wyndham:  There  is  little  authority  [for  the  modern  spell- 
ing.] The  verb  is  almost  invariably  "remembre"  in  the  writings  of  Sh.  and  his 
contemporaries.  If  so,  the  line  is  defective;  cf.  66,  8,  "disabled."  [Neverthe- 
less, Wyndham  puts  "remembered"  in  his  text.] 

14.  Dowden:  That  (my  spirit)  is  this  (my  poems). 


lxxv]         THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  185 

75 
So  are  you  to  my  thoughts  as  food  to  life, 
Or  as  sweet  season'd  shewers  are  to  the  ground; 
And  for  the  peace  of  you  I  hold  such  strife, 
As  twixt  a  miser  and  his  wealth  is  found. 
Now  proud  as  an  inioyer,  and  anon  5 

Doubting  the  filching  age  will  steale  his  treasure, 
Now  counting  best  to  be  with  you  alone, 
Then  betterd  that  the  world  may  see  my  pleasure, 
Some-time  al}  ful  with  feasting  on  your  sight,  9 

And  by  and  by  cleane  starued  for  a  looke, 
Possessing  or  pursuing  no  delight 
Saue  what  is  had,  or  must  from  you  be  tooke. 

Thus  do  I  pine  and  surfet  day  by  day, 

Or  gluttoning  on  all,  or  all  away, 

2.  sweet  season'd]  Hyphened  by  M,  etc.       shewers]  showers  L,  M,  etc. 

3.  peace]  price  or  sake  M  conj.;  prize  Sta  conj.,  But. 
8.  betterd]  better  Isaac  conj. 

This  sonnet  was  omitted  from  the  1640  Poems  and  the  editions  based 
thereon. 

Beeching:  This  sonnet  .  .  .  would  come  better  after  52. 

2.  sweet  season'd.  Schmidt:  Well  tempered.  [For  "season,"  cf.  Hand.,  I,  ii, 
192 :  "Season  your  admiration  for  a  while."]  Tyler:  Seasonable  and  refreshing. 

3.  peace.  M alone:  The  context  seems  to  require  that  we  should  rather 
read  "price"  or  "sake."  The  conflicting  passions  described  by  the  poet  were 
not  produced  by  a  regard  to  the  ease  or  quiet  of  his  friend,  but  by  the  high 
value  he  set  on  his  esteem:  yet  as  there  seems  to  have  been  an  opposition  in- 
tended between  "peace"  and  "strife,"  I  do  not  suspect  any  corruption  in  the 
text.  [An  admirable  specimen,  for  editors,  of  how  one  may  annotate  a  difficult 
passage  at  considerable  length  without  offering  an  explanation!  —  Ed.]  Delius 
[takes  "peace"  to  mean  "love";  Schmidt,  "concord  or  reconciliation."] 
Staunton  [supports  his  emendation  "prize"  by  a  reference  to  86,  2.  (Ath., 
Dec.  6,  1873,  p.  732.)]  Isaac,  [referring  to  Massey's  view  that  the  sonnet  is 
supposed  to  be  spoken  by  Southampton  to  Miss  Vernon  when  seeking  a  recon- 
ciliation after  his  absence,  observes  that  a  similar  interpretation  of  this  line  is 
possible  whether  Sh.  himself  is  the  lover  or  is  describing  objectively  a  love 


1 86  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lxxv 

blossoming  in  secret.  Or,  the  "peace"  may  be  concerned  with  the  conventional 
"strife"  of  lover  and  lady;  see  Petrarch,  passim,  and  Spenser,  Sonnets  10-12, 
14,  57.  In  this  connection  he  quotes  the  translation  of  the  line  in  Tschischwitz's 
version : 

Um  Ruh  mit  dir  muss  ich  den  Kampf  beginnen. 

(Archiv,  61:  183-84.)] 

Dowden:  The  peace,  content,  to  be  found  in  you.  [So  Beeching.]  Tyler: 
Peaceable  possession  of  you.  Wyndham:  Peace  of  possessing  your  love.  [Lines 
5-6  would  seem  to  be  pretty  good  evidence  for  some  such  interpretation  as 
Tyler's.  —  Ed.] 

6.  Dowden:  Perhaps  this  is  the  first  allusion  to  the  poet,  Sh.'s  rival  in  his 
friend's  favour.  Wyndham:  The  note  struck  here,  and  in  the  next  sonnet,  with 
its  reminiscence  of  32,  seems  prelusive  to  Group  E  (78-86).  [Cf.  48,  13.  —  Ed.] 

8.  betterd.  Schmidt  [observes  that  the  word  here  approaches  the  meaning 
"surpassed."  Isaac  glosses  the  passage,  "Counting  (myself)  better'd  in  that," 
etc.   (Archiv,  61:  185.)] 

10.  starved.  Cf.  47,  3  and  Malone's  note. 

13-14.  For  the  "chiastic"  construction,  in  this  case  in  inverted  order,  cf. 
note  on  27,  13-14. 

14.  all  away.  Malone:  Having  nothing  on  my  board,  —  all  being  away. 
Steevens:  Perhaps  [the  meaning  is]  "Away  with  all!"  i.e.,  I  either  devour  like 
a  glutton  what  is  within  my  reach,  or  command  all  provisions  to  be  removed 
out  of  my  sight.  [This  suggestion,  it  need  hardly  be  remarked,  has  not  com- 
mended itself  to  any  other  commentator.  —  Ed.] 

Isaac  [calls  this  a  love-sonnet,  approving  Massey's  observation,  respecting 
line  6,  that  there  was  no  man-stealing  in  the  Elizabethan  age.  So  viewed,  the 
sonnet]  is  an  unsurpassed  specimen  of  its  type,  and  the  peer  of  the  best  that 
has  ever  been  sung  on  this  inexhaustible,  eternal  theme.  (Archiv,  61:  183.) 
Brandes:  We  have  here  an  exact  counterpart  to  the  following  expressions  in  a 
letter  from  Michael  Angelo  to  Cavalieri  [his  young  man  friend],  dated  July 
1533:  "I  would  far  rather  forget  the  food  on  which  I  live,  which  wretchedly 
sustains  the  body  alone,  than  your  name,  which  sustains  both  body  and  soul, 
filling  both  with  such  happiness  that  I  can  feel  neither  care  nor  fear  of  death 
while  I  have  it  in  my  memory."  (William  Sh.,  1:  349.)  Walsh:  [This,  together 
with  S.  52,  forms]  a  paean  of  love,  unlikely  to  be  addressed  to  a  friend,  and  not 
in  conformity  with  his  relation  to  the  dark  mistress.  They  may  have  been 
addressed  to  some  other  mistress,  real  or  imaginary,  or  even  to  his  wife.  Von 
Mauntz  [conceives  the  sonnet  to  be  addressed,  not  to  any  particular  person, 
but  to  love  in  the  abstract.] 

Horace  Davis:  This  sonnet  seems  to  gather  in  itself  parts  of  47,  48,  52,  and 
56.  Cf.  especially,  line  1  with  52,  1;  line4  with  52, 1-3;  line  6  with  48,  8;  line  9 
with  47,  5-6;  lines 9-10  with  56,  1-6. 


lxxvi]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  187 

76 

Why  is  my  verse  so  barren  of  new  pride? 

So  far  from  variation  or  quicke  change? 

Why  with  the  time  do  I  not  glance  aside 

To  new  found  methods,  and  to  compounds  strange? 

Why  write  I  still  all  one,  euer  the  same,  5 

And  keepe  inuention  in  a  noted  weed, 

That  euery  word  doth  almost  fel  my  name, 

Shewing  their  birth,  and  where  they  did  proceed? 

O  know  sweet  loue  I  alwaies  write  of  you,  9 

And  you  and  loue  are  still  my  argument : 

So  all  my  best  is  dressing  old  words  new, 

Spending  againe  what  is  already  spent: 

For  as  the  Sun  is  daily  new  and  old, 

So  is  my  loue  still  telling  what  is  told, 

7.  fel]  tell  C,  M,  etc.;  spell  Nicholson  conj. 

8.  where]  whence  C,  Co3,  Hu2,  But. 

This  was  also  omitted  from  the  Poems  of  1640  and  editions  based  thereon. 

Dowden:  Is  this  an  apology  for  Sh.'s  own  sonnets,  of  which  his  friend  begins 
to  weary?  Beeching:  This  sonnet  opens  a  new  section  dealing  with  the  poet's 
verse  and  that  of  other  writers.  We  have  already  had  one  sonnet  on  this  topic 
(32).  If  76  and  77  were  interchanged,  the  subject  would  run  on  without  a  break. 

Mackail  [finds  the  sonnet,  especially  lines  1-8,  to  have  significance  respect- 
ing the  problem  of  the  date.  It]  indicates  clearly  .  .  .  that  Sh.  was  deliberately 
using  a  poetical  form  which  was  passing  out  of  vogue,  but  in  which  his  genius 
saw  hitherto  unreached  possibilities.  ...  Up  to  1603  at  least  he  persisted,  as  he 
puts  it,  in  "dressing  old  words  new,  spending  again  what  is  already  spent." 
The  apology  he  makes  is  not  only,  is  not  even  mainly,  for  any  deficiency  in  his 
own  powers;  it  is  for  persisting  in  the  use  of, a  poetical  manner  which  was 
regarded  as  obsolete,  a  poetical  form  which  had  fallen  out  of  fashion.  [Cf.  79, 
3-4,  and  82,  7-8.]  But  in  these  phrases  there  is  an  accent,  if  not  of  sarcasm,  at 
least  of  pride.    {Led.  on' Poetry,  198-200.) 

2.  quicke.  Schmidt:  Lively. 

3-4.  Tyler:  These  lines  may  allude  to  Sh.'s  unwillingness  to  adopt  the 
mode  of  expression  and  the  poetical  form  employed  by  his  rivals.  Wyndham: 
[Cf.  32,  4-8;  125,  5-7,  with  note.] 


1 88  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE        [lxxvi 

4.  Krauss:  Cf.  Sidney,  A.  &  S.,  S.  3: 

Ennobling  new-found  tropes  with  problems  old, 
Or  with  strange  similes  enrich  each  line. 

(Jahrb.,  16:  176.) 

Tyler:  [The  words]  may  very  well  refer  to  the  novel  compound  words  employed 
by  Chapman  to  express  Homeric  epithets.  Lee:  Cf.  for  like  comment  on  con- 
temporary sonneteers'  extravagances  21,  38,  and  130.  [For  the  "compounds 
strange,"  see  also  Lee's  remarks  on  the  "compound  epithet"  as  introduced 
into  Elizabethan  poetry  from  that  of  the  Pleiade,  French  Renaissance  in 
England,  pp.  245-48.  He  quotes  the  satires  of  Joseph  Hall,  1597-98,  as  to  the 
current  habit  "in  epithets  to  join  two  words  in  one,"  and  observes  that  Sh. 
himself  adopted  it  freely  in  the  coining  of  such  epithets  as  "honey-heavy," 
"giant-rude,"  "marble-constant,"  etc.]  Every  reader  of  Sh.'s  text  will  recall 
the  frequency  of  double  epithets  which,  in  the  best  original  editions,  are,  as 
in  the  French  books,  carefully  hyphened  by  the  printer. 

6.  invention.  Rolfe:  [For  the  meaning,  poetic  faculty,  cf.  38,  8.]  noted 
weed.  Steevens:  A  dress  by  which  it  is  always  known,  as  those  persons  are 
who  always  wear  the  same  colours.  Beeching:  This  passage  ...  is  one  of  the 
stock  texts  with  the  wiseacres  who  think  that  the  sonnets  were  written  by  Francis 
Bacon.  They  explain  "noted  weed"  to  mean  "a  disguise,"  which  is  exactly 
what  it  does  not  mean.  [This  Baconian  misinterpretation  had  already  been 
noted  by  W.  E.  Ormsby,  N.  &  Q.,  9th  s.,  10;  126.] 

9-10.  Lee:  Cf.  Sidney,  A.  &  S.,  S.  90: 

For  nothing  from  my  will  or  wit  doth  flow, 
Since  all  my  words  thy  beauty  doth  indite. 

[See  also  Lee's  note  on  S.  38.] 
10.  argument.  See  note  on  38,  3. 


lxxvii]      THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  189 

77 
Thy  glasse  will  shew  thee  how  thy  beauties  were, 
Thy  dyall  how  thy  pretious  mynuits  waste, 
The  vacant  leaues  thy  mindes  imprint  will  beare, 
And  of  this  booke,  this  learning  maist  thou  taste. 
The  wrinckles  which  thy  glasse  will  truly  show,  5 

Of  mouthed  graues  will  giue  thee  memorie, 
Thou  by  thy  dyals  shady  stealth  maist  know, 
Times  theeuish  progresse  to  eternitie. 
Looke  what  thy  memorie  cannot  containe,  9 

Commit  to  these  waste  blacks,  and  thou  shalt  finde 
Those  children  nurst,  deliuerd  from  thy  braine, 
To  take  a  new  acquaintance  of  thy  minde. 
These  offices,  so  oft  as  thou  wilt  looke, 
Shall  profit  thee,  and  much  inrich  thy  booke. 

1.  were]  wear  G2,  etc. 

3.  The]  These  C,  M  conj.,  But. 

4.  this  booke]  thy  book  M  conj. 
6.  thee]  the  1640,  G,  S. 

10.  blacks]  blanks  Th  conj.,  C,  M,  etc. 
13-14.  [E  prints  lines  13-14  of  S.  108.] 
14.  thy]  my  C. 

C.  A.  Brown  [makes  this  the  envoy  of  the  "third  poem,"  56-77.] 
Steevens:  Probably  this  sonnet  was  designed  to  accompany  a  present  of  a 
book  consisting  of  blank  paper.  Malone:  This  conjecture  appears  to  me  ex- 
tremely probable.  We  learn  from  S.  122  that  Sh.  received  a  table-book  from 
his  friend.  In  his  age  it  was  customary  for  all  ranks  of  people  to  make  presents 
on  the  first  day  of  the  new  year.  Brinsley  Nicholson  [(TV.  &  Q.,  4th  s.,  3: 166) 
suggests  that  the  sonnet  was  written  in  a  table-book  "having  a  looking-glass 
and  a  portable  dial  on  or  in  either  cover."  See  A.  Y.  L.,  II,  vii,  20  ("And  then 
he  drew  a  dial  from  his  poke")  for  evidence  that  dials  were  worn  by  people  of 
the  court;  and  R.  2,  IV,  i,  276  ("Give  me  that  glass")  for  a  suggestion  that 
mirrors  were  also  carried  by  "male  fashionables."]  [This  last  is  a  decided  slip, 
as  line  268  reads,  "Go  some  of  you  and  fetch  a  looking-glass."  —  Ed.]  Dowden: 
If  I  might  hazard  a  conjecture,  it  would  be  that  Sh.,  who  had  perhaps  begun 
a  new  manuscript-book  with  S.  75,  ...  here  ceased  to  write,  knowing  that  his 
friend  was  favouring  a  rival,  and  invited  his  friend  to  fill  up  the  blank  pages 


igo  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE       [lxxvii 

himself.  Massey:  This  book  was  referred  to  in  S.  37  [error  for  38],  where,  as 
we  saw,  the  poet  was  no  longer  to  write  on  any  common  or  "vulgar  paper," 
but  in  the  book  which  Southampton  had  provided  for  the  special  purpose.  .  .  . 
He  wants  his  friend  to  write  in  the  book  of  sonnets  as  a  means  of  drawing  him 
out  of  self,  and  set  him  brooding  on  his  thoughts  of  love  instead  of  grizzling 
over  his  ill  fortunes,  (p.  157.)  Tyler:  The  view  is  probably  correct  .  .  .  which 
infers  that  when  [this  and  the  two  preceding  sonnets]  were  sent  to  Mr.  W.  H. 
there  was  sent  with  them  a  present  consisting  of  a  mirror,  a  sun-dial,  and  a 
manuscript-book,  each  of  these  being  in  some  sort  symbolical.  Shindler: 
[The  sonnet]  accompanied  a  present,  evidently  to  some  more  distant  friend 
than  the  "lovely  boy."  {Gent.  Mag.,  272:  81.)  Butler:  My  friend  Mr.  H. 
Festing  Jones  suggests  to  me  that  the  book  [was  a  book  of  tablets;  cf.  S.  122,] 
and  that  the  two  friends  probably  each  made  the  other  a  present  of  a  book  of 
tablets  on  the  occasion  of  a  New  Year's  day  —  Sh.  writing  S.  77  on  the  first 
leaf  of  the  book  he  gave  to  Mr.  W.  H.  (p.  97.)  Beeching:  The  phrases  in  lines 
3  and  10,  "the  vacant  leaves,"  "these  waste  blanks,"  seem  to  imply  that  the 
album  was  not  altogether  unwritten  in;  but  they  would  be  justified  if  the  dedi- 
catory sonnet  occupied  the  first  page.  The  sonnet  is  so  out  of  key  with  what 
precedes  and  follows  it,  that  it  is  best  to  treat  it  as  an  occasional  poem  to  which 
we  have  not  the  complete  clue.  The  "wrinkles"  of  line  5  makes  it  impos- 
sible to  regard  it  as  an  envoy  to  the  sonnets  before  it.  Rolfe:  That  the  son- 
net refers  to  the  present  of  a  blank-book  to  his  friend  seems  quite  certain, 
but  I  cannot  believe  that  it  was  partly  filled  with  Sh.'s  poems.  That  the  dial 
and  mirror  were  also  included  in  the  gift  is  possible  but  not  probable  —  unless 
"Thy"  in  lines  1  and  2  should  be  "The,"  as  in  3.  [Mrs.  Stopes  and  Brandl 
accept  Nicholson's  theory  that  the  mirror  and  dial  were  attached  to  the  book.] 

4.  this  booke.  Malone:  [For  the  proposed  "thy,"  cf.  line  14.]  this  learn- 
ing. Dowden:  Beauty,  Time,  and  Verse  formed  the  theme  of  many  of  Sh.'s 
sonnets;  now  that  he  will  write  no  more,  he  commends  his  friend  to  his  glass, 
where  he  may  discover  the  truth  about  his  beauty;  to  the  dial,  where  he  may 
learn  the  progress  of  time;  and  to  this  book,  which  he  himself  —  not  Sh. — 
must  fill.  Tyler:  The  lesson  is  that  [despite  the  warning  given  by  wrinkles 
and  the -shadow  on  the  dial]  security  against  oblivion  may  be  found  by  commit- 
ting thought  to  writing.  Beeching:  What  the  glass  and  dial  have  taught 
thee. 

5.  Here  should  perhaps  be  recalled  the  implication  in  Shindler's  and 
Beeching's  notes  on  the  sonnet  as  a  whole,  to  the  effect  that  this  cannot  well 
be  addressed  to  the  beautiful  youth  (for  example,  of  S.  104). 

6.  mouthed.  Malone:  All-devouring.  [Cf.  "swallowing  grave,"  V.  &  A., 
757-1  Schmidt:  Gaping.  Abbott:  [By  a  curious  use  of  passive  participles], 
a  participle  formed  from  an  adjective  means  "made  (the  adjective),"  and  de- 
rived from  a  noun  means  "endowed  with  (the  noun)."    (§  294.) 

7.  shady  stealth.  Schmidt:  Stealing  shadow.  [For  the  inverted  relationship 
of  adjective  and  noun,  cf.  notes  on  9,  14;  36,  6;  51,  6.]  Beeching:  Cf.  104,  10. 


lxxvii]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  191 

8.  theevish.  Malone:  Cf.  A.W.,  II,  i,  169:  "The  thievish  minutes  how 
they  pass." 

10.  blacks.  Dyce  [explains  the  error  for  "blanks"  as  being  due  to  the  MS. 
form  "blacks."]  Brinsley  Nicholson  [{N.  &  Q.,  7th  s.,  11:  24)  favors  retain- 
ing the  Q  reading,  as  referring  to  tables  of  black  slate.  The  use  of  this  is  men- 
tioned in  Douce's  Illustrations  (1839,  p.  454),  with  an  engraving  from  Gesner 
(1565),  where  such  a  table-book  is  described,  "Pugillaris  e  laminis  saxi  nigri 
fissilis,  cum  stylo  ex  eodem."]  Miss  Porter  [also  suspects  that  the  "blacks" 
should  stand,  but  in  the  sense  of]  printers'  types,  marks  of  life  actually  laid 
waste  to  nourish  them,  and  which  is  spent  upon  them  for  the  sake  of  the  life  of 
the  spirit  they  betoken.  [Cf.  63,  13  and  65,  14.]  [Here  one  is  tempted  to  ask, 
Who  shall  comment  upon  the  commentator?  —  Ed.] 

11.  Tyler:  "Children  of  the  brain"  have  taken  the  place  of  the  natural 
children  of  the  first  sonnets. 

12.  Dowden:  Perhaps  this  is  said  with  some  feeling  of  wounded  love  —  my 
verses  have  grown  monotonous  and  wearisome;  write  yourself,  and  you  will  find 
novelty  in  your  own  thoughts.  Verity:  Reading  over  what  you  have  written, 
you  will  realize  the  change  which  has  gone  on  in  your  own  nature  and  char- 
acter; .  .  .  thus  you  will  appreciate  the  double  change,  outward  and  inward, 
that  has  taken  place  in  yourself. 

13.  offices.  Schmidt:  Functions,  agencies.  Beeching:  The  offices  of  glass, 
dial,  and  book. 

[This  is  another  of  the  sonnets  in  which  Godwin  believes  the  poet  is  address- 
ing himself:]  "That  mirror  yonder,  hanging  on  the  wall,  informs  thee  how  thy 
good  looks  are  wearing  away;  that  Dutch  clock  ticking  on  the  mantelpiece 
shows  thee  the  rapid  passage  of  time;  .  .  .  but  these  vacant  leaves  destined  to 
receive  the  imprint  of  thy  mind,  will  form  a  book  and  give  thee  a  taste  of  a 
different  kind  of  learning.  .  .  .  These  waste  leaves  .  .  .  will  deliver  the  children 
nursed  in  thy  brain  into  actual  life,  and  thereby  furnish  thee  with  a  new 
acquaintance  with  thy  mind.  Moreover  this  service,  as  often  as  it  shall  be 
repeated,  will  add  to  thy  proficiency  as  a  writer."   (pp.  61-62.) 


192  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE     [lxxviii 

78 
So  oft  haue  I  inuok'd  thee  for  my  Muse, 
And  found  such  faire  assistance  in  my  verse, 
As  euery  Alien  pen  hath  got  my  vse, 
And  vnder  thee  their  poesie  disperse. 
Thine  eyes,  that  taught  the  dumbe  on  high  to  sing,  5 

And  heauie  ignorance  aloft  to  flie, 
Haue  added  fethers  to  the  learneds  wing, 
And  giuen  grace  a  double  Maiestie. 

Yet  be  most  proud  of  that  which  I  compile,  9 

Whose  influence  is  thine,  and  borne  of  thee, 
In  others  workes  thou  doost  but  mend  the  stile, 
And  Arts  with  thy  sweete  graces  graced  be. 
But  thou  art  all  my  art,  and  doost  aduance 
As  high  as  learning,  my  rude  ignorance. 

6.  flie]  flee  in  copy  of  Q  in  Bridgewater  Library. 

7.  learneds]  learnedst  anon  conj. 

1-4.  Walsh:  Cf.  79,  1.  Sh.  claims  to  have  been  the  first  to  sing  the  praises 
of  this  patron. 

3.  Wyndham  [considers  this  line,  together  with  83,  12,  as  proof  that  there 
were  more  rival  poets  than  one.  (p.  251.)  This  is  doubted  by  Tyler.]  Alien. 
Schmidt:  Belonging  to  another.  [The  capital  and  italics  here  have,  as  usual, 
led  to  various  conjectures.  (For  the  general  subject,  see  notes  on  1,  2.)  Henry 
Brown  thinks  a  pun  is  intended:  "a  lean  pen";  cf.  the  possible  pun  in  84,  5. 
Creighton  finds  an  extraordinary  anagram,  involving  the  names  of  both 
Daniel  and  Alleyn.  {Blackwood,  169:  677.)]  got  my  use.  Dowden:  Acquired 
my  habit  (of  writing  verse  to  you.) 

4.  disperse.  Abbott:  The  plural  nominative  is  implied  from  the  previous 
singular  noun.    (§  412.) 

5-6.  Butler:  Surely  these  lines  afford  considerable  ground  for  thinking 
that  Sh.  had  not  written  at  all  before  falling  in  with  Mr.  W.  H. 

6.  heavie  ignorance.  Malone:  Cf.  Oth.,  II,  i,  144:  "O  heavy  ignorance!" 
6-7.  Von  Mauntz:  Cf.  Sidney,  A.  &  S.,  90,  9-1 1: 

Ne  if  I  would,  I  could  just  title  make, 
That  any  laud  to  me  thereof  should  grow, 
Without  my  plumes  from  others'  wings  I  take. 


lxxviii]      THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  193 

Walsh:  Cf.  Spenser,  in  a  dedicatory  sonnet  prefixed  to  the  F.  Q.,  addressed 

to  the  Earl  of  Essex: 

But  when  my  Muse,  whose  feathers,  nothing  flit, 

Do  yet  but  flag,  and  lowly  learn  to  fly, 

With  bolder  wing  shall  dare  aloft  to  sty  (=  rise). 

7.  learneds.  Abbott  [lists  this  as  an  instance  of  an  adjective  inflected  like 
a  noun,  though  he  suspects  that  the  reading  should  be  "learned'st."  (§  5.)] 
Dyce:  Cf.  Spenser,  Tears  of  the  Muses: 

Each  idle  wit  at  will  presumes  to  make, 
And  doth  the  learneds  task  upon  him  take. 

Tyler:  The  word  suits  very  well  the  Greek  scholar,  Chapman.  "A  double 
majesty"  [of  line  8  is  also]  an  expression  quite  suitable  [to  the]  Homeric  trans- 
lation. 

8.  Massey:  A  poet  is  here  praised  for  the  sensuous  grace  of  his  poetry  and 
majesty  of  his  music;  .  .  .  the  very  qualities  of  all  others  that  we,  following  the 
Elizabethans,  associate  with  the  march  of  Marlowe's  "mighty  line."    (p.  163.) 

9.  compile.  Schmidt:  Compose.  [Cf.  85,  2,  and  L.  L.  L.,  IV,  iii,  134:  "Did 
never  sonnet  for  her  sake  compile."] 

10.  influence.  Schmidt:  Inspiration. 

12.  Arts.  Dowden:  Learning.  Tyler:  There  is  reference  here  to  poetical 
style. 

13.  advance.  Schmidt:  Raise  to  a  higher  worth.  [Cf.  Lucrece,  1705:  "My 
low-declined  honour  to  advance."] 

[For  theories  as  to  the  "rival  poet "  or  poets,  see  further  the  notes  on  Sonnets 
80,  85,  86,  and  the  Appendix.  As  to  the  present  sonnet,  Henry  Brown  (p.  183) 
thinks  that  it  has  particular  reference  to  Francis  Davison,  who  dedicated  his 
Poetical  Rhapsody  (1602)  to  Pembroke  in  the  following  lines:] 

Great  Earl  whose  high  and  noble  mind  is  higher, 

And  noble  than  thy  noble  high  desire: 

Whose  outward  shape  though  it  most  lovely  be, 

Doth  in  fair  robes,  a  fairer  soul  attire; 

Who  rich  in  fading  wealth  in  endless  treasures 

Of  virtue,  valour,  learning,  richer  art, 

Whose  present  greatest  men  esteem  but  part 

Of  what  by  line  of  future  hopes  thy  measure!  .  .  . 

I  consecrate  these  rhymes  to  thy  great  name, 

WThich  if  thou  like  they  seek  no  other  fame. 

Massey  [finds  in  it  references  to  rivals  who,  on  the  other  hand,  were  under  the 
patronage  of  Southampton:]  He  specifies  two  or  three  of  these  by  personifying 
certain  of  their  well-known  qualities.  .  .  .  Sh.  stands  for  Ignorance  confessed. 
.  .  .  Tom  Nash  had  posed  himself  as  one  of  the  Learned  in  opposition  to  the 
supposed  illiterate  player.  Tom  Nash  also  wielded  an  "alien  pen"  in  the  spirit 


194  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE        [lxxix 

of  an  Ishmaelite.  .  .  .  [Sh.]  says,  in  effect,  that  the  Earl  has,  in  patronising  Nash, 
returned  those  feathers  to  the  wing  of  Learning  which  he,  Sh.,  had  been  pub- 
licly charged  by  Greene  and  others  with  purloining.  .  .  .  [Lines  12-13  signify 
that]  Southampton's  patronage  and  friendship  made  Sh.  equal  to  either  the 
Man  of  Learning,  who  was  not  M.  A.,  or  the  Man  of  Arts,  who  was.  .  .  .  Mar- 
lowe was  a  Master  of  Arts.    (pp.  160,  163.) 

J.  M.  Robertson  [speaks  of  this  and  the  related  sonnets  as  avowing  Sh.'s 
lack  of  classic  culture,  and  his  consciousness  of  being  outbraved  by  the  learning 
of  others.  They]  cannot  rationally  be  supposed  to  come  from  the  competent 
classicist  pictured  by  Professor  Fiske  and  further  magnified  by  Professor 
Collins  and  the  Baconians.   (Sh.  and  Montaigne,  pp.  340-41.) 


79 

Whilst  I  alone  did  call  vpon  thy  ayde, 

My  verse  alone  had  all  thy  gentle  grace, 

But  now  my  gracious  numbers  are  decayde, 

And  my  sick  Muse  doth  giue  an  other  place. 

I  grant  (sweet  loue)  thy  louely  argument  5 

Deserues  the  trauaile  of  a  worthier  pen, 

Yet  what  of  thee  thy  Poet  doth  inuent, 

He  robs  thee  of,  and  payes  it  thee  againe, 

He  lends  thee  vertue,  and  he  stole  that  word,  9 

From  thy  behauiour,  beautie  doth  he  giue 

And  found  it  in  thy  cheeke :  he  can  affoord 

No  praise  to  thee,  but  what  in  thee  doth  Hue. 

Then  thanke  him  not  for  that  which  he  doth  say, 

Since  what  he  owes  thee,  thou  thy  selfe  doost  pay, 

2.  thy]  the  E. 

6.  trauaile]  travell  1640;  travel  G1,  S1. 

5.  lovely  argument.  Rolfe:  The  theme  of  your  loveliness.  Cf.  38,  3. 

8-9.  Tyler:  Notice  the  derogatory  expressions  "robs"  and  "stole."  [But 
they  are  not  derogatory,  or  are  far  from  necessarily  so,  in  the  present  connec- 
tion, being  the  natural  expression  of  the  conceit  of  the  sonnet.  The  point  is  not 
insignificant,  because  a  number  of  critics  have  assumed  that  the  tone  of  these 
sonnets  is  such  as  to  indicate  animosity  between  Sh.  and  the  "rival  poet." 
I  find  nothing  in  them  which  would  not  be  appropriate  if  the  two  were  excellent 
friends.  See  Walsh's  note  on  80,  2.  —  Ed.] 


lxxx]         THE- SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  195 

80 

O  How  I  faint  when  I  of  you  do  write, 
Knowing  a  better  spirit  doth  vse  your  name, 
And  in  the  praise  thereof  spends  all  his  might, 
To  make  me  toung-tide  speaking  of  your  fame. 
But  since  your  worth  (wide  as  the  Ocean  is)  5 

The  humble  as  the  proudest  saile  doth  beare, 
My  sawsie  barke  (inferior  farre  to  his) 
On  your  broad  maine  doth  wilfully  appeare. 
Your  shallowest  helpe  will  hold  me  vp  a  floate,  9 

Whilst  he  vpon  your  soundlesse  deepe  doth  ride, 
Or  (being  wrackt)  I  am  a  worthlesse  bote, 
He  of  tall  building,  and  of  goodly  pride. 
Then  If  he  thriue  and  I  be  cast  away, 
The  worst  was  this,  my  loue  was  my  decay. 

'     9.  a  floate]  a-float  G2,  S,  E;  afloat  C,  M,  etc.;  aloft  R2  [error]. 

11.  wrackt]  wreck'd  G2,  S2,  E,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del1.2,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl, 
Kly,  Hal,  Cam,  Do,  Wh2,  Ty,  Wy,  But,  Her,  Be,  N. 

2.  better  spirit.  M alone:  Curiosity  will  naturally  endeavour  to  find  out 
who  this  "better  spirit"  was,  to  whom  even  Sh.  acknowledges  himself  inferior. 
There  was  certainly  no  poet  in  his  own  time  with  whom  he  needed  to  have 
feared  a  comparison;  but  these  sonnets  being  probably  written  when  his  name 
was  but  little  known,  and  at  a  time  when  Spenser  was  in  the  zenith  of  his  repu- 
tation, I  imagine  he  was  the  person  here  alluded  to.  Main:  A  memorable  in- 
stance of  that  noble  modesty  .  .  .  which  would  seem  to  be  characteristic  of  the 
very  greatest  natures.  The  reader  will  call  to  mind  Burns's  tribute  to  Ferguson, 
Coleridge's  to  Bowles,  Scott's  to  Miss  Ferrier,  etc.  Walsh:  Spenser  was  the 
only  "better  spirit"  at  the  time  whose  competition  Sh.  need  have  feared.  Sh. 
and  Spenser  are  believed  to  have  been  friends.  But  there  is  not  a  word  in  these 
sonnets  that  indicates  anything  else  than  a  friendly  rivalry. 

5-8.  Von  Mauntz:  Cf.  Ovid,  Tristia,  2,  327-30: 

Arguor  immerito.  Tenuis  mihi  campus  aratur: 

Illud  erat  magnae  fertilitatis  opus. 
Non  ideo  debet  pelago  se  credere,  si  qua 

Audet  in  exiguo  ludere  cumba  lacu. 


196  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [lxxx 

[To  which  might  be  added,  with  special  reference  to  line  9,  the  dedicatory  lines 
which  Von  Mauntz  notes  in  connection  with  S.  26,  from  the  Fasti,  1,  3-4: 

Excipe  pacato,  Caesar  Germanice,  voltu 
Hoc  opus  et  timidae  dirige  navis  iter.] 

6.  humble  .  .  .  proudest.  Abbott:  The  -est  of  the  second  adjective  modifies 
the  first.   Cf.  "The  soft  and  sweetest  music"  (Jonson).  (§  398.) 

7.  inferior  farre.  Tyler:  Not  to  be  taken  too  literally. 
7-10.  Steevens:  Cf.  T.  &  C,  I,  iii,  34-44: 

The  sea  being  smooth, 
How  many  shallow  bauble  boats  dare  sail 
Upon  her  patient  breast,  making  their  way 
With  those  of  nobler  bulk! 
But  let  the  ruffian  Boreas  once  enrage 
The  gentle  Thetis,  and  anon  behold 
The  strong-ribb'd  bark  through  liquid  mountains  cut,  .  .  . 

where 's  then  the  saucy  boat 
Whose  weak  untimber'd  sides  but  even  now 
Co-rivall'd  greatness? 

Lee:  Sh.  seems  to  write  with  an  eye  on  Barnes's  [metaphor  in  P.  &  P.,  S.  91 :] 

My  fancy's  ship  tossed  here  and  there  by  these 
Still  floats  in  danger  ranging  to  and  fro.  « 

(Life,  p.  134.) 
10.  soundlesse.  Schmidt:  Unfathomable. 

Massey:  I  can  have  no  doubt  that  [this  sonnet]  marks  the  moment  of  Sh.'s 
first  venture  in  publishing  his  poem  of  V.  &  A.  His  "saucy  bark"  is  about  to 
be  launched.  .  .  .  The  dedicatory  nature  of  the  sonnet,  especially  of  line  9,  may 
be  glossed  by  the  dedicatory  Epistle  to  Euphues,  in  which  Lily  had  said  to  his 
patron,  "  If  your  lordship  with  your  little  finger  do  but  hold  me  up  by  the  chin, 
I  shall  swim."  There  is  a  tint  of  the  most  delicate  modesty  in  the  plea  that  if  he 
sinks  while  Marlowe  swims,  his  love  for  the  friend,  his  desire  to  do  him  honour, 
will  be  the  cause  of  his  "decay."   (pp.  167-68.) 

W.  C.  Hazlitt  [is  disposed  to  think  that  the  sonnet  refers  to  Griffin,  who 
published  his  Fidessa  in  1596.]  His  sonnets,  like  those  of  Sh.,  may  have  been 
in  existence  before  they  were  printed,  and  the  more  famous  writer,  who  may 
here  pose  as  the  humbler  one  poetica  licentia,  may  have  been  unaware  that 
Griffin  was  his  debtor  [i.e.,  through  the  plagiarizing  of  passages  from  the  V.&  A. 
This  notion  is  based  further  on  the  fact  that  Griffin  was  a  Warwickshire  man, 
and  that  there  is  some  possibility  that  he  had  been  more  successful  than  Sh.  in 
"ingratiating  himself  with  a  common  lady  friend  at  a  distance  from  London, 
yet  at  one  accessible  on  horseback."]  (Sh.,  Himself  and  his  Work,  pp.  254-55.) 


lxxxi]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  197 

81 

Or  I  shall  Hue  your  Epitaph  to  make, 
Or  you  suruiue  when  I  in  earth  am  rotten, 
From  hence  your  memory  death  cannot  take, 
Although  in  me  each  part  will  be  forgotten. 
Your  name  from  hence  immortall  life  shall  haue,  5 

Though  I  (once  gone)  to  all  the  world  must  dye, 
The  earth  can  yeeld  me  but  a  common  graue, 
When  you  intombed  in  mens  eyes  shall  lye, 
Your  monument  shall  be  my  gentle  verse,  9 

Which  eyes  not  yet  created  shall  ore-read, 
And  toungs  to  be,  your  beeing  shall  rehearse, 
When  all  the  breathers  of  this  world  are  dead. 
You  still  shall  Hue  (such  vertue  hath  my  Pen) 
Where  breath  most  breaths,  euen  in  the  mouths  of  men. 

1.  Or]  Whe'r  Sta  conj.;  Though  Stengel  conj.       I  shall]  shall  I  G,  S,  E. 
1-2.  make,  .  .  .  rotten,]  make?  .  .  .  rotten?  G,  S,  E. 

2.  Or  you]    You  will  Stengel  conj. 

11-12.  rehearse,  .  .  .  dead,]  rehearse.  .  .  .  dead,  1640,  G1;  rehearse:  .  .  .  dead, 
G2;  rehearse,  .  .  .  dead;  S,  E,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Kly,  Wh\ 
Hal,  Cam,  Do,  Ty,  Ox,  Her,  Be,  Bull;  rehearse  .  .  .  dead;  Gl,  R,  Wh2,  Wy,  N, 
Wa;  rehearse;  .  .  .  dead,  Walker  conj. 

14.  breaths]  kills  Sta  conj.       euen]  e'en  S1;  ev'n  S2,  E. 

Massey:  [This  sonnet]  is  vacant  of  meaning  where  it  stands,  (p.  173.) 
Beeching:  This  sonnet  is  plainly  misplaced;  its  theme  is  conventional.  [For 
sources  or  analogues,  see  notes  on  S.  55.  —  Ed.] 

4.  in  me  each  part.  Beeching:  Every  characteristic  of  me. 
7-10.  Tyler:  [Cf.  Drayton,  Idea,  S.  44: 

Ensuing  ages  yet  my  rhymes  shall  cherish 
>  Where  I  entomb'd  my  better  part  shall  save.] 

(Intro.,  pp.  40-41.) 

12.  breathers.  Malone:  Cf.  A.  Y.  L.,  Ill,  ii,  297:  "I  will  chide  no  breather 
in  the  world  but  myself."  this  world.  Dowden:  This  age. 

13.  Pen.  Wyndham  [explains  the  capitalization  here  as  signifying]  the  in- 
strument of  an  art,  used  as  its  emblem.   [Cf.  84,  5;  106,  7.]   (p.  263.)   [But  in 


198  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE        [lxxxi 

other  passages  where  the  word  is  used  in  the  same  way  (32,  6;  78,  3;  85,  8;  etc.) 
it  is  not  capitalized.  —  Ed.] 

14.  Beeching:  As  one  who  lives  is  called  par  excellence  a  "breather,"  you 
shall  live  in  the  very  realm  of  breath,  in  the  mouths  of  men.  Lee:  Cf.  the 
Latin  phrase  (from  Ennius):  "Volito  vivu'  per  ora  virum,"  to  which  Sh.  had 
already  made  allusion  in  T.And.,  I,  i,  389-90. 

Mackail:  The  promise  of  immortality  [here  uttered]  is  too  splendid  to  be 
insincere;  it  is  no  mere  flourish  of  rhetoric,  but  the  authentic  and  inspired  voice 
of  poetry,  which  sounds  in  these  noble  lines.    {Led.  on  Poetry,  p.  200.) 

G.  A.  Leigh  [believes  this  sonnet  and  a  few  of  the  same  group  to  have  been 
addressed  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  with  reference  to  an  intended  poem  in  her  honor. 
(Westm.  Rev.,  147:  180.)] 

Wyndham:  The  present  Countess  of  Pembroke  states  (Pall  Mall  Mag., 
Oct.,  1897)  that  [lines  9-14  of  this  sonnet],  with  "ever"  for  "even"  in  line  14, 
are  found  written  in  "17th  century  character  on  an  old  parchment,  pasted  on 
the  back  of  a  panel  bearing  a  small  painting  of  William,  third  Earl  of  Pem- 
broke." Lee:  The  ink  and  handwriting  are  quite  modern,  and  hardly  make 
pretence  to  be  of  old  date  in  the  eyes  of  any  one  accustomed  to  study  manu- 
scripts. On  May  5  [1898]  some  persons  interested  in  the  matter,  including 
myself,  examined  the  portrait  and  the  inscription,  on  the  kind  invitation  of  the 
present  Earl,  and  the  inscription  was  unanimously  declared  by  palaeographical 
experts  to  be  a  clumsy  forgery  unworthy  of  serious  notice.    (Life,  p.  412m) 


lxxxii]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  199 

82 

I  Grant  thou  wert  not  married  to  my  Muse, 
And  therefore  maiest  without  attaint  ore-looke 
The  dedicated  words  which  writers  vse 
Of  their  faire  subiect/blessing  euery  booke. 
Thou  art  as  faire  in  knowledge  as  in  hew,  5 

Finding  thy  worth  a  limmit  past  my  praise, 
And  therefore  art  inforc'd  to  seeke  anew, 
Some  fresher  stampe  of  the  time  bettering  dayes. 
And  do  so  loue,  yet  when  they  haue  deuisde,  9 

What  strained  touches  Rhethorick  can  lend, 
Thou  truly  faire,  wert  truly  simpathizde, 
In  true  plaine  words,  by  thy  true  telling  friend. 
And  their  grosse  painting  might  be  better  vs'd, 
Where  cheekes  need  blood,  in  thee  it  is  abus'd. 

7.  art]  are  G1,  S1. 

8.  time  bettering]  Hyphened  by  G,  etc. ;  time's  bettering  C. 

12.  true  plaine]  Hyphened  by  Walker-conj.,  Sta,  Dy2,  Hu2.    true  telling] 
Hyphened  by  G2,  S1,  C,  M,  etc. 

1.  Dowden:  His  friend  had  perhaps  alleged  in  playful  self- justification  that 
he  had  not  married  Sh.'s  Muse,  vowing  to  forsake  all  other,  and  keep  only  unto 
her. 

2.  attaint.  Schmidt:  Disgrace.  [Cf.  88,  7.]  ore-looke.  Schmidt:  Peruse. 
[Cf.  M.N.  D.t  II,  ii,  121:  "I  o'erlook  Love's  stories."] 

3.  dedicated  words.  Schmidt:  Dedicatory  words.  Dowden:  This  may  only 
mean  "devoted  words,"  but  probably  has  reference,  as  the  next  line  seems  to 
show,  to  the  words  of  some  dedication  prefixed  to  a  book.  [Line  4  surely  does 
not  suggest  a  particular  book,  but  books  addressed  to  patrons  generally.  —  Ed.] 
Tyler:  Possibly  [a]  reference  to  a  dedication  either  actual  or  proposed.  Wynd- 
ham  :  Refers,  as  I  think,  to  the  body  of  the  book  —  the  praises  dedicated 
to  their  object  —  and  not  merely  to  the  prefixed  dedication.  R.  H.  Legis 
[( N.  &  Q.,  5th  s.,  6:  163)  finds  here  an  allusion  to  the  dedications  of  Drayton. 
His  "dedicated  words"]  will  be  found  at  the  commencement  of  the  1st  and  3rd 
songs,  hymns,  or  books,  of  [the  Polyolbion].  Henry  Brown  [finds  allusions  to 
the  dedications  of  Francis  Davison  (see  his  note  on  S.  78)  and  John  Davies,  the 
latter  appearing  to  be  the  principal  rival  poet.  See  especially  his  dedication  of 


200  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE      [lxxxii 

Mirum  in  Modum  to  Pembroke,  (pp.  184-85.)]  Creighton  [(Blackwood, 
169:  678)  is  certain  that  the  reference  is  to  the  numerous  dedications  of  Daniel.] 
Lee:  There  seems  small  doubt  that  Sh.  has  in  mind  the  dedicatory  sonnets 
and  addresses  inscribed  in  1594  and  succeeding  years  to  his  own  patron,  the 
Earl  of  Southampton,  who  was  in  Nashe's  phrase  "a  dear  lover  and  cherisher" 
of  poets.  Among  the  earl's  poetic  eulogists  were,  besides  Nashe,  Barnabe 
Barnes,  Gervase  Markham,  John  Florio,  Samuel  Daniel,  John  Davies,  George 
Chapman,  and  many  others.  All  these  panegyrists  of  Southampton  exhausted 
in  his  honour  the  vocabulary  of  praise,  mainly  in  sonnets,  and  one  or  other  of 
them  is  doubtless  referred  to  [here.]  (Note  on  S.  78.)  [For  the  style  of  dedica- 
tions of  the  period,  cf.  Nashe's  to  Southampton,  prefixed  to  The  Unfortunate 
Traveler  (1594):]  "Incomprehensible  is  the  height  of  your  spirit  both  in  heroical 
resolution  and  matters  of  conceit.  Unreprievebly  perisheth  that  booke  whatso- 
ever to  wast  paper,  which  on  the  diamond  rocke  of  your  judgement  disasterly 
chanceth  to  be  shipwrackt."  Elsewhere  Nashe  calls  Southampton  "the  match- 
less image  of  honour  and  magnificent  rewarder  of  vertue,  Jove's  eagle-borne 
Ganimede."  [See  many  further  specimens  in  Life  of  Sh.,  pp.  384-89.]  H.  D. 
Gray  [thinks  this  passage  to  be  evidence  that  Sonnets  82-83]  could  not  have 
been  written  to  Southampton,  who  had  twice  received  Sh.'s  "dedicated  words." 
(Pub.  M.  L.  A.,  n.s.  23:  636m) 

4.  blessing  every  booke.  A.  Hall:  In  Drayton's  Heroical  Epistles  ...  we 
have  11  books  and  11  inscriptions,  viz.,  to  the  Lady  Harrington,  Earl  and 
Countess  of  Bedford,  Sir  Henry  and  Lady  Goodeve,  etc.,  one  blessing  to  each 
division  of  one  work.  Then  Chapman,  who  published  his  translation  of  the 
Iliad  in  detachments,  dedicated  the  first  section  to  Lord  Essex,  and  afterwards, 
in  reprinting  it  with  additions,  inscribed  it  to  Prince  Henry  of  Wales,  the  elder 
brother  of  Charles  I,  and  thereto  we  find  appended  verses  to  the  Duke  of 
Lennox,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  Lords  Salisbury,  Sussex,  etc.,  including,  of  course, 
Lord  Southampton.  There  are  16  in  all  of  these  "blessings."  (N.  &  Q.,  6th  s., 
10:  102.) 

5.  Dowden:  Sh.  had  celebrated  his  friend's  beauty  (hue);  perhaps  his 
learned  rival  had  celebrated  the  patron's  knowledge.  Tyler:  Subsequently, 
in  the  title  to  a  sonnet  accompanying  his  translation  of  the  Iliad,  Chapman 
addressed  Pembroke  as  "the  Learned  and  Most  Noble  Patron  of  Learning," 
and  the  sonnet  celebrates  Pembroke's  "god-like  learning." 

6.  Walsh:  Cf.  103,  7.  Lee:  [Cf.  Campion's  lines  to  Lord  Walden,  in  which 
he  professed  that]  "the  admired  virtues"  of  the  patron's  youth 

Bred  such  despairing  to  his  daunted  Muse 

That  it  could  scarcely  utter  naked  truth.     (Life,  p.  140.) 

8.  Beeching:  [This  line  may  imply]  that  the  rival  poet  is  a  younger  man 
than  Sh.  (Intro.,  p.  xliv.)  time  bettering.  Verity:  Cf.  32,  10,  and  Per.,  I, 
Prol.,  11-12:  "These  latter  times,  when  wit's  more  ripe." 

10.  strained.  Cf.  "stretched,"  17,  12. 


lxxxiii]    THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  201 

11.  simpathizde.  Schmidt:  Answered  to.  [Cf.  Lucrece,  11 13: 

True  sorrow  then  is  feelingly  sufficed 

When  with  like  semblance  it  is  sympathized.] 

My  plain  words  were  most  suitable  to,  expressed  best,  thy  fair  nature. 
13-14.  Cf.  Wyndham's  note  on  67,  5-6. 

I  Never  saw  that  you  did  painting  need, 
And  therefore  to  your  faire  no  painting  set, 
I  found  (or  thought  I  found)  you  did  exceed, 
The  barren  tender  of  a  Poets  debt : 

And  therefore  haue  I  slept  in  your  report,  5 

That  you  your  selfe  being  extant  well  might  show, 
How  farre  a  moderne  quill  doth  come  to  short, 
Speaking  of  worth,  what  worth  in  you  doth  grow, 
This  silence  for  my  sinne  you  did  impute,  9 

Which  shall  be  most  my  glory  being  dombe, 
For  I  impaire  not  beautie  being  mute, 
When  others  would  giue  life,  and  bring  a  tombe. 
There  Hues  more  life  in  one  of  your  faire  eyes, 
Then  both  your  Poets  can  in  praise  deuise. 

2.  your]  you  S,  E.       faire]  face  G2. 

7.  to]  too  G,  etc. 

8.  what]  that  M  conj. 

9.  for]  of  1640,  G,  S,  E. 

10.  being]  thinking  or  praising  Sta'conj. 
13.  There]  Their  L,  M  [not  Bo]. 

1-2.  painting.  Wyndham:  High-flown  poetical  praise.  Cf.  85,  3-4.  Horace 
Davis:  Cf.  101,  6-7. 

2.  faire.  See  note  on  16,  11. 

4.  tender.  Schmidt:  A  thing  offered.  [Cf.  Haml.,  I,  iii,  106:  "You  have 
ta'en  his  tenders  for  true  pay."] 

5.  Malone:  I  have  not  sounded  your  praises. 

7.  moderne.  Malone:  Common  or  trite.  [So  Schmidt,  Dowden,  Beeching, 
Lee,  Porter,  etc.]  Tyler:  The  pen,  most  probably,  of  the  rival  poet,  the 
"fresher  stamp"  ...  of  82,  8.  To  take  "modern"  in  the  sense  of  "trivial" 
seems  to  me  unsatisfactory.   Wyndham:  The  ordinary  sense  is  intended.   In 


202  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE      [lxxxiii 

the  Sonnets  the  poet  constantly  contrasts  modernity  unfavourably  with 
antiquity.  Cf.  59,  7;  68,  9;  106,  7-8;  108,  12.  [The  prevalent  interpretation  of 
the  word  is  based  on  the  general  Shakespearean  usage,  and  is  probably  sound. 
The  analogy  of  the  thought  in  S.  106  (especially  the  conclusion),  however,  is  an 
attractive  one  for  Wyndham's  interpretation,  which,  of  course,  is  not  opposed 
to  Elizabethan  usage.  Cf.  Jonson,  Volpone,  III,  iv:  "He  has  so  modern  and 
facile  a  vein,  fitting  the  time."    ( N.  E.  D.)  —  Ed.] 

8.  what  worth.  [With  this  elliptical  construction,  cf.  HamL,  I,  i,  31-33: 

Let  us  once  again  assail  your  ears, 
That  are  so  fortified  against  our  story, 
What  we  two  nights  have  seen. 

Of  this  passage  Abbott  observes  (§  252)  that  "what"  depends  on  a  verb  of 
speech,  implied  either  in  "assail  your  ears"  or  in  "story."  So  one  may  say  that 
a  verb  of  speech  is  implied  in  "come  too  short";  or,  that  the  verb  "speaking" 
is  made  to  carry  its  effect  over  into  the  following  clause.  Tyler  avoids  the 
difficulty  by  placing -a  dash,  instead  of  a  comma,  after  "worth,"  and  an  excla- 
mation point  after  "grow."  —  Ed.]  doth  grow.  Schmidt:  Is.  [Cf.  84,  4;  93, 
13.]  Tyler:  This  word  may  possibly  mean  "doth  grow  as  a  poet  contemplates 
and  attempts  to  describe  your  worth,"  or  the  word  may  allude  to  Mr.  W.  H.'s 
still  immature  youth. 

10.  being.  [On  the  use  of  the  participle  without  a  formal  subject,  see 
Abbott,  §  378.] 

11-12.  Von  Mauntz:  Cf.  Ovid,  Tristia,  II,  337-38: 

Et  tamen  ausus  eram:  sed  detrectare  videbar, 
Quodque  nefas,  damno  viribus  esse  tuis. 

12.  M alone:  When  others  endeavour  to  celebrate  your  character,  while, 
in  fact,  they  disgrace  it  by  the  meanness  of  their  compositions.   Dowden:  Cf. 

17,  3-4- 

13-14.  Lee:  Of  Southampton's  poetic  proteges,  Barnes  makes  the  most 
marked  reference  to  the  noble  patron's  "fair  eyes";  see  his  sonnet  (dedicatory 
to  Parthenophil,  1593):  "Gracious  eyes,  those  heavenly  lamps  which  give  the 
Muses  light,"  etc. 

14.  both  your  Poets.  Isaac  [finds  evidence  here  that  there  were  two  rivals 
in  mind:]  Sh.  cannot  be  understood  to  be  one. of  them,  for  in  this  same  sonnet 
he  tells  that  he  has  been  a  long  while  silent,  and  in  another  that  his  ability  is 
inadequate.  [The  same  thing,  he  believes,  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  in  cer- 
tain sonnets  (Isaac  says  79-86,  perhaps  an  error  for  80  and  86)  Sh.  seems  to 
speak  of  a  rival  who  stands  higher  than  himself,  but  in  82-84  of  one  on  whom 
he  looks  down.  The  former  Isaac  conjectures  to  be  Spenser,  the  latter  Mar- 
lowe.] (Jahrb.,  19:  236,  241.)  [Wyndham  appears  to  understand  "both  your 
poets"  in  the  same  way:]  Among  these  others  who  still  sing,  while  the  poet  is 
himself  silent,  two  are  conspicuous.  (Intro.,  p.  cxvii).  [Surely  most  readers 
understand  "both  your  poets"  to  be  the  speaker  and  his  rival.  The  fact  that 


lxxxiv]      THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  203 

he  is  silent  is  quite  beside  the  question:  speech  is  vain,  he  says,  because  your 
worth  is  such  that  if  both  of  us  devoted  ourselves  to  a  single  feature  we  should 
find  it  beyond  our  reach.  —  Ed.] 

Mrs.  Stopes  [compares  with  this  sonnet  a  passage  from  William  Hunnis,  in 
the  Paradise  of  Dainty  Devices:] 

With  painted  speache  I  list  not  prove  my  cunning  for  to  trie, 
Nor  yet  will  use  to  fill  my  penne  with  gileful  flatterie; 
With  pen  in  hand,  and  hart  in  brest,  shall  faithful  promise  make 
To  love  you  best,  and  serve  you  most,  by  your  great  vertues  sake. 
Samuel  Neil  [(Life  of  Sh.,  p.  107)  believes  that  this  and  the  following  three 
sonnets  were  addressed  to  Queen  Elizabeth.] 


84 
Who  is  it  that  sayes  most,  which  can  say  more, 
Then  this  rich  praise,  that  you  alone,  are  you, 
In  whose  confine  immured  is  the  store, 
Which  should  example  where  your  equall  grew, 
Leane  penurie  within  that  Pen  doth  dwell,  5 

That  to  his  subiect  lends  not  some  small  glory, 
But  he  that  writes  of  you,  if  he  can  tell, 
That  you  are  you,  so  dignifies  his  story. 
Let  him  but  coppy  what  in  you  is  writ,  9 

Not  making  worse  what  nature  made  so  cleere, 
And  such  a  counter-part  shall  fame  his  wit, 
Making  his  stile  admired  euery  where. 

You  to  your  beautious  blessings  adde  a  curse, 

Being  fond  on  praise,  which  makes  your  praises  worse. 

1.  most,]  most?  M,  etc.  (except  Tu). 

2.  are  you,]  art  you,  1640;  are  you?  G,  etc.;  are  you:  C. 
4.  grew,]  grew?  C,  Sta,  Kly,  But,  Wa. 

8.  story.]  story,  L,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co1,  B,  Del,  Dy1,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Hal,  Cam1,  Do, 
Wh2,  Ox;  story:  C,  Hu,  Co2.3,  Dy2,  Bull;  story;  Wh1,  Her,  Be. 

10.  worse]  gross  Sta  conj.,  But. 

11.  wit]  writ  1640. 

12.  his  stile]  his  still  1640;  him  still  G,  S,  E. 

13.  blessings]  blessing  G,  S,  E. 

14.  on]  of  G2,  S,  E.       praise,]  praise  Ty. 


204  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE      [lxxxiv 

x.  Who  is  it.  Dowden:  Which  of  us,  the  rival  poet  or  I?  Tyler:  Which  of 
the  two,  the  describer  or  the  eulogist?  which.  Percy  Simpson:  A  relative 
pronoun;  but  it  has  been  frequently  read  as  interrogative,  and  the  line  distorted 
to  "Who  is  it  that  says  most?"  etc.  (Sh.  Punctuation,  p.  13.)  [This  reading  of 
the  line  had  been  anticipated  by  Staunton,  and  independently  by  the  late 
Professor  A.  G.  Newcomer,  who  explained  it:  "Who  is  it  —  be  it  even  he  that 
says  most  —  who  can  say  more"  etc.] 

2.  Henry  Brown:  Cf.  A.  &  C,  III,  ii,  13:  "Would  you  praise  Caesar,  say 
'Caesar,'  go  no  further."  Porter:  Cf.  Browning:  "What  is  she?  Her  human 
self,  —  no  lower  word  will  serve." 

3.  store.  Wyndham:  The  whole  wealth  of  Beauty  ...  is  enclosed  in  you. 

4.  grew.  [See  the  textual  notes  for  the  punctuation.  The  great  majority  of 
editors  of  course  take  "whose"  (line  3)  as  relative,  not  interrogative.  —  Ed.] 

5.  Pen.  See  note  on  81,  13. 

8.  story.  Staunton:  Not  satisfied  with  copying  the  mistakes  of  the  Quarto 
.  .  .  the  latest  editions  of  Sh.'s  works  make  confusion  worse  confounded  by 
terminating  the  8th  line  with  a  comma  instead  of  a  full  stop.  (Ath.,  Jan.  31, 
1874,  p.  161.)  [Dowden's  note,  to  the  effect  that  Staunton  may  be  right,  shows 
that  he,  at  least,  followed  Malone's  punctuation  consciously;  but  it  does  not 
appear  how  he  would  explain  the  construction  of  the  sentence.] 

9.  Krauss:  Cf.  Sidney,  A.  &  S.,  S.  3: 

In  Stella's  face  I  read 
What  love  and  beauty  be;  then  all  my  deed 
But  copying  is  what  in  her  Nature  writes. 

(Jahrb.,  16:  176.) 

10.  cleere.  Schmidt:  Beautiful,  glorious.  Tyler:  Manifest,  and  of  such 
shining  beauty. 

13.  curse.  Beeching:  Antithesis  to  "blessings,"  and  so  a  not  much  stronger 
word  than  "disadvantage";  perhaps  "misfortune"  comes  nearest  in  modern 
English.    Cf.  W.T.,  II,  iii,  86:  "It  is  a  curse  he  cannot  be  compelled  to." 

14.  Steevens:  Being  fond  of  such  panegyric  as  debases  what  is  praise- 
worthy in  you,  instead  of  exalting  it.  [It  would  seem  from  this  that  Steevens 
should  prefer  the  omission  of  the  comma  after  "praise."  On  the  other  hand, 
Tyler  explains  the  latter  part  of  the  line  as  meaning,  "  By  which  .  .  .  the  praise 
due  to  you  is  really  lessened  and  deteriorated,"  yet  omits  the  comma.]  fond  on. 
M alone:  Used  by  Sh.  for  "fond  of."   Rolfe:  Doting  on."' 


lxxxv]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  205 

85 
My  toung-tide  Muse  in  manners  holds  her  still, 
While  comments  of  your  praise  richly  compil'd, 
Reserue  their  Character  with  goulden  quill, 
And  precious  phrase  by  all  the  Muses  fil'd. 
I  thinke  good  thoughts,  whilst  other  write  good  wordes,      5 
And  like  vnlettered  clarke  still  crie  Amen, 
To  euery  Himne  that  able  spirit  affords, 
In  polisht  forme  of  well  refined  pen. 

Hearing  you  praisd,  I  say  'tis  so,  'tis  true,  9 

And  to  the  most  of  praise  adde  some-thing  more, 
But  that  is  in  my  thought,  whose  loue  to  you 
(Though  words  come  hind-most)  holds  his  ranke  before, 
Then  others,  for  the  breath  of  words  respect, 
Me  for  my  dombe  thoughts,  speaking  in  effect. 

3.  Reserue  their]  Preserve  their  G2,  Burgon  conj.  (MS.);  Rehearse  thy  anon, 
conj.,  Ty;  Rehearse  your  anon,  conj.;  Reserve  your  anon,  conj.;  Deserve  their 
Do  conj.,  Ox;  Rehearse  their  or  Receive  their  Her  conj.;  Reserve  thy  But;  Rescribe 
their  Mackail  conj.;  Record  thy  Bull  conj. 

4.  fil'd]^G,S,E. 

5.  whilst]  while  A,  B,  Hu1,  CI,  Kly,  Ty,  Ox.  other]  others  G2,  S,  E,  M,  A,  Kt, 
B,  Hu1,  Del,  Sta,  CI,  Kly,  Ty,  Ox. 

6.  Amen]  Italics  by  M,  A,  Kly,  Co3,  Hu2;  quoted  by  Kt,  Co1.2,  B,  Hu1,  Del, 
Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Wh,  Hal,  Cam,  Do,  R,  etc. 

7.  Himne]  line  Massey  conj. 

9.  'tis  so,  'tis  true]  Italics  by  M,  A,  Kly,  Co3,  Hu2;  quoted  by  Kt,  Co1.2, 
Hu1,  Del,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Wh,  Hal,  Cam,  Do,  R,  etc.;   "'tis  so,"  "'tis 
true,"  Be. 
14.  Me]  Men  E. 

1-4.  Lee:  The  numbing  effect  of  a  patron's  eminent  virtues  on  a  modest 
poet  is  a  common  conceit  among  Elizabethan  poets.  Cf.  Campion  to  Lord 
Walden,  [quoted  under  82,  6  above.] 

2.  compil'd.  See  note  on  78,  9. 

3.  Reserve  their  Character.  M alone:  "Reserve"  has  here  the  sense  of 
"preserve."  Cf.  32,  7.  Dowden:  Possibly  "Deserve  their  character"  may  be 
right,  i.e.,  "deserve  to  be  written."  [Schmidt  and  Rolfe  say  that  the  text  is 
probably  corrupt.]    Tyler  [accepting  the  emendation  "Rehearse  thy,"  says 


206  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE        [lxxxv 

that  "  character  "  must  be  taken]  to  denote  "face,  appearance."  Cf.  T.N., 
I,  ii,  51:  "This  thy  fair  and  outward  character."  Wyndham:  Preserve  or 
treasure  up  their  style  by  labouring  it  preciously,  with  a  secondary  suggestion 
of  fastidious  restraint.  .  .  .  That  "character"  =  "style"  is  confirmed  by  its 
being  printed  with  a  capital.  Lee:  Perpetuate  the  handwriting  by  executing  it 
with  a  golden  quill.  Beeching:  The  sense  required  fr'om  this  obscure  line  is 
an  antithesis  to  line  1,  the  antithesis  expressed  quite  clearly  in  line  5.  This 
third  line,  therefore,  must  mean  "are  written  down  with  golden  quill."  " Char- 
acter" means  "writing,"  as  in  59,  8;  for  "reserve,"  therefore,  we  should  expect 
"receive";  and  for  that  "reserve"  may  be  a  misreading  of  the  MS.,  or  it  may 
be  used  as  a  strong  way  of  saying  "are  written  in  a  permanent  form  for  pos- 
terity." Bullen:  It  is  difficult  to  find  any  meaning  in  the  ordinary  reading. 
...  If  we  regard  "their"  as  a  misprint  for  "thy"  we  must  change  "Reserve" 
to  some  such  word  as  "Rehearse"  or  "Record."  Porter:  The  special  meaning 
attaching  to  "Reserve"  here  agrees  with  that  suggested  in  note  on  32,  7  as  the 
sense  there.  .  .  .  "Character"  stands  both  in  the  usual  meaning,  literally,  for 
"handwriting,"  and,  metaphorically,  for  sedulously  careful  handwriting,  that 
is,  style.  [Butler's  reading  is  erroneously  stated  to  be  based  on  Malone. 
The  "you"  and  "your"  of  the  rest  of  the  sonnet  are  of  course  against  it.  His 
statement  that  the  Q  spelling  is  "Reserne"  is  due  to  a  badly  outlined  "u" 
which  resembles  an  "n"  in  the  British  Museum  quarto  from  which  the  Praeto- 
rius  facsimile  was  made.  —  Ed.] 

4.  fiTd.  Schmidt:  Polished,  refined. 

5.  other.  See  note  on  62,  8. 

6.  Rolfe:  Since  the  clerk,  whether  lettered  or  unlettered,  responds  "Amen," 
the  word  ["  unletter'd  "]  must  have  some  special  significance.  The  meaning  may 
be  that  he  endorses  the  eulogies  with  as  little  hesitation  as  the  clerk  does  the 
Latin  to  which  he  cries  "Amen,"  though  he  may  not  understand  it.  [The  word 
is,  of  course,  sufficiently  explained  by  the  attitude  which  the  poet  assumes  in 
this  whole  group  of  sonnets.   Cf.  78,  6,  14.  —  Ed.] 

7.  Himne.  Lee  [refers  to  this  phrase  in  his  argument  for  Barnes  as  the  rival 
poet:]  Very  few  poets  of  the  day  in  England  followed  Ronsard's  practice  of 
bestowing  the  title  of  hymn  on  miscellaneous  poems,  but  Barnes  twice  applies 
the  word  to  his  poems  of  love  (Parthenophil,  Madr.  1,  12;  S.  17,  9).  (Life, 
p.  134.)  [It  is  not  often  that  a  commentator  provides  us  with  a  refutation  of  his 
own  position  so  promptly  as  does  Lee,  within  two  pages  of  the  passage  just 
quoted:]  The  strongest  point  in  favour  of  Chapman's  identity  with  the  rival 
poet  lies  in  the  fact  that  each  of  the  two  sections  of  his  poem  The  Shadow  of 
Night  (1594)  is  styled  a  "hymn."  .  .  .  But  Drayton,  of  his  Harmonie  of  the 
Church  (1591),  and  Barnes,  as  we  have  just  seen,  both  wrote  "hymns,"  and 
the  word  was  often  loosely  used  in  Elizabethan  English,  as  in  16th  century 
French,  in  the  general  sense  of  "poem."  (p.  136m)  [In  fact,  the  word  as  here 
used  is  sufficiently  explained  by  the  image  of  the  clerk  in  the  church  service, 
without  reference  to  any  contemporary  poet  whatsoever.  —  Ed.]  able  spirit. 
Beeching:  The  "better  spirit"  of  80,  2. 


lxxxvi]      THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  207 

13-14.  McClumpha:  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  II,  vi,  30-31: 

Conceit,  more  rich  in  matter  than  in  words, 
Brags  of  his  substance,  not  of  ornament. 

(Jahrb.,  40:  201.) 

14.  in  effect.  Tyler:  In  thought  and  purpose.  Cf.  S.  23.  Beeching:  For 
the  contrast  of  "word"  and  "effect,"  cf.  T.  of  A.,  Ill,  v,  97:  "Tis  in  few 
words,  but  spacious  in  effect." 

86 

Was  it  the  proud  full  saile  of  his  great  verse, 
Bound  for  the  prize  of  (all  to  precious)  you, 
That  did  my  ripe  thoughts  in  my  braine  inhearce, 
Making  their  tombe  the  wombe  wherein  they  grew? 
Was  it  his  spirit,  by  spirits  taught  to  write,  5 

Aboue  a  mortall  pitch,  that  struck  me  dead? 
No,  neither  he,  nor  his  compiers  by  night 
Giuing  him  ayde,  my  verse  astonished. 
He  nor  that  affable  familiar  ghost  9 

Which  nightly  gulls  him  with  intelligence, 
As  victors  of  my  silence  cannot  boast, 
I  was  not  sick  of  any  feare  from  thence. 
But  when  your  countinance  fild  vp  his  line, 
Then  lackt  I  matter,  that  infeebled  mine. 

1.  proud  full]  proudfidl  S1. 

2.  (all  to  precious)]  {all  too  precious)  G1,  S1;  {all-too-precious)  G2,  S2,  E,  Wy, 
Wa;  all-too-precious  C,  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Kly,  Ty,  Be,  Bull; 
all  too  precious  Co,  Gl,  Wh,  Hal,  Cam,  Do,  R,  Ox,  But,  Her,  N;  all  to  precious 
Godwin  conj. 

3.  inhearce]  rehearse  G,  S,  E. 

9.  affable  familiar]  Hyphened  by  Sta. 

11.  victors]  victors,  G2,  S2,  E,  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Kly,  Cam,  Do,  Hu2, 
Ty,  But,  Bull. 

13.  fild]  fiWd  G,  S,  E,  Co,  Hu,  Gl,  Kly,  Cam,  Do,  R,  Wh2,  Ox,  Wy,  Her, 
etc.;  fil'd  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Del,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Wh1,  Hal,  Ty,  But. 

1.  Furnivall:  [This  line]  probably  alludes  to  the  swelling  hexameters  of 
Chapman's  Englishing  of  Homer.  (Intro.,  p.  lxv.)  Was.  Massey  [takes  the 
past  tense,  as  compared  with  the  present  tense  of  the  preceding  sonnets,  to  be 


208  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE      [lxxxvi 

due  to  the  occurrence  of  Marlowe's  death  in  the  mean  time.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  present  of  line  10  is  explained  as  an  allusion  to  the  play  of  Faustus,  still 
running  on  the  stage,  (p.  168.)]  full  saile.  Fleay  [finds  here  an  allusion  to 
Nash's  Pierce  Penniless,  where  Southampton  may  be  represented  under  the 
pseudonym  Amyntas,  and  where  the  expression  "full  sail "  is  used.  In  the  same 
connection  he  offers  some  very  dubious  evidence  connecting  lines  9-10  with  the 
same  book.   (Macm.  Mag.,  31:  439.)] 

2.  (all  to  precious).  Godwin:  May  the  line  not  have  read  originally,  "  Bound 
to  the  prize  of  all,"  that  is,  to  the  common  prize  of  all  writers,  ...  to  precious 
you?  (p.  196.)  Percy  Simpson:  Compound  nouns  or  adjectives  [were  regu- 
larly] enclosed  within  brackets  where  we  should  employ  the  hyphen  if  we  used 
any  punctuation  at  all.  Cf.  2  H.  4  [Folio],  II,  i,  123:  "Such  (more  then  impu- 
dent) sawcines." 

4.  Malone:  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  II,  iii,  9-10: 

The  earth,  that's  nature's  mother,  is  her  tomb; 
What  is  her  burying  grave,  that  is  her  womb. 

Rolfe:  We  find  the  same  thought  in  Lucretius,  v.  259:  "Omni parens  eadem 
rerum  commune  sepulchrum."  Walsh:  Cf.  ["To  Time,"  by  "A.  W.,"  in 
Davison's  Poetical  Rhapsody:]  "Thy  womb,  that  all  doth  breed,  is  tomb  to  all." 
Verity:  Cf.  Spenser,  Ruins  of  Time: 

The  seeds  of  which  all  things  at  first  were  bred 

Shall  in  great  Chaos'  womb  again  be  hid. 

5.  spirit .  . .  spirits.  [See  Abbott's  note  on  52,  14.  Here  again,  however, 
we  need  only  to  note  that  "spirit"  was  regularly  either  monosyllabic  or  dissyl- 
labic. Cf.  56,  8  with  61,  5.  —  Ed.]  Massey  [finds  here  the  chief  evidence  of 
Marlowe  as  rival  poet:]  Sh.  speaks  of  Marlowe  and  identifies  him  with  the 
"familiar"  spirit,  Mephistopheles,  just  as  Thorpe  does  when  he  dedicates  the 
translation  of  Lucan's  first  book  to  Edward  Blunt,  and  alludes  to  Marlowe  as 
a  "  familiar  spirit."  [Marlowe  was  generally  believed  to  practice  necromancy  as 
a  student  of  black  magic.  Sh.]  grants  the  facts  of  Marlowe's  writing  under  what 
is  now  termed  "spirit-control,"  .  .  .  but  says  [line  12]  it  was  not  this  that 
cowed  or  overcrowed  him,  and  made  him  keep  silence,   (pp.  164,  170.) 

7.  compiers  by  night  R.  H.  Legis  [taking  Drayton  as  rival  poet  (see  his 
note  on  82,  3),  views  these  compeers  as  Sir  Robert  Aston  and  the  other  friends 
who  aided  Drayton  in  writing  the  Polyolbion.   (N.  &  Q.,  5th  s.,  6:  163.)] 

8.  astonished.  Schmidt:  Stunned  with  fear.  [Cf.  Lucrece,  1730:  "Stone- 
still,  astonish'd  with  this  deadly  deed."] 

9-10.  Steevens:  Alluding  perhaps  to  the  celebrated  Dr.  Dee's  pretended 
intercourse  with  an  angel,  and  other  familiar  spirits.  Massey:  Who  does  not 
recognize  Faustus,  his  necromancy,  and  his  boasts  of  what  he  will  have  the 
spirits  do  for  him?  Who  does  not  see  that  Sh.,  thinking  dramatically,  has 
identified  Marlowe  with  Faustus  and  thrown  him  on  the  stage,  where,  in  vision 
—  if  it  be  not  an  actual  fact  that  the  play  was  running  at  the  Curtain  Theatre 
while  Sh.  was  composing  that  sonnet  —  he  sees  his  familiar  Mephistopheles 


lxxxvi]      THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  209 

"gulling  him  nightly"  with  such  intelligence  as  that  "in  Hell  are  all  manner 
of  delights."  [Cf.  especially  the  line  in  Dr.  Faustus,  "They  say  thou  hast  a 
familiar  spirit,"  etc.]  (Qu.  Rev.,  115:  447.)  Henry  Brown,  [taking  Davies  as 
rival  poet,  thinks  Drayton  may  have  been  the]  intelligencer  alluded  to,  as 
aiding  Davies,  like  an  evil  spirit,  with  dark  suggestions,  (p.  193.)  Delius 
[thinks  that  the  assistant  who  was  referred  to  in  line  7  is  here]  ironically  called 
an  obliging  house-spirit.  A.  Hall:  If  Marlowe  or  one  of  his  well-known  con- 
temporaries were  the  better  spirit  of  S.  80,  the  able  spirit  of  85,  the  writer  of 
the  great  verse  in  86,  then  Peele,  Nash,  Lodge,  Drayton,  Chapman,  Ric.  Barn- 
field,  Barnaby  Rich,  and  such  like  being  the  compeers,  the  lately  deceased 
Robert  Greene  would  be  the  affable  familiar  ghost  who  was  reproduced  from 
the  spirit  world  over  and  over  again  as  stepfather  to  numerous  pamphlets, 
freely  manufactured  by  some  of  these  so-called  "compeers"  but  disavowed  by 
all.  (N.  &  Q.,  6th  s.,  10:  102.)  [Later,  however  (ibid.,  p.  182),  Hall  takes  the 
view  that  the  "better  spirit"  is  a  burlesque  term,  and  (following  Fleay)  that 
Nash  is*  ironically  referred  to.  On  Minto's  interpretation  of  the  passage  in 
connection  with  Chapman,  see  Appendix,  p.  475.] 

13.  countinance.  Schmidt:  Authority,  patronage.  [Cf.  1  H.  4,  I,  ii,  33: 
"Under  whose  countenance  we  steal."]  Massey  [thinks  that  the  reference  is 
to  Southampton's  countenance  given  to  the  finishing  of  Marlowe's  Hero  & 
Leander.  (p.  167.)]  fild.  Steevens  [with  Malone's  reading  "fil'd":]  Polished. 
Cf.  Jonson's  Verses  on  Sh.:  "  In  his  well-torned  and  true-filed  lines."  Collier: 
The  word  is  spelt  "fild"(as  "fill'd"  was  usually  spelt),  and  not  "fil'd"  (as  in 
S.  85)  in  the  Quarto;  and  .  .  .  the  preposition  "up"  shows  that  what  the  poet 
meant  was  "fill'd  up"  or  occupied.  Dyce:  Mr.  Collier's  remark  about  "up" 
carries  no  weight;  for  even  if  we  choose  to  consider  that  preposition  as  redun- 
dant here  ...  its  redundancy  is  unobjectionable  according  to  the  phraseology 
of  Sh.  and  his  contemporaries.  [A  writer  signing  himself  "  jABEz"(iV.  &  Q..  5th 
s.,  7:  283)  observes  that  in  the  Q  "filled"  is  always  spelt  "fild,"  and  "filed" 
"fil'd."  (See  63,  3;  to  which  may  be  added  17,  2;  for  "fil'd"  the  "always"  of 
Jabez's  statement  must  depend  on  85,  4.  —  Ed.)  He  adds  that  "the  sense  .  .  . 
ought  to  have  saved  Dyce  and  others  from  the  blunder  of  printing  '  fil'd.'  " 
R.  H.  Legis  retorts  (ibid.,  p.  385)  that  "enfeebled,"  not  "lacked,"  is  the  true 
antithesis  of  the  word  in  dispute;  read,  therefore,  "polished  up  or  made  power- 
ful." To  whom  "  Jabez"  (p.  465),  to  the  effect  that  "filed"  does  not  and  never 
did  mean  "made  powerful."]  Dowden:  " Fill'd  up  his  line "  is  opposed  to  " then 
lack'd  I  matter." 

14.  lackt  I  matter.  Tyler:  Cf.  T.  &  C,  II,  iii,  103:  "Then  will  Ajax  lack 
matter,  if  he  have  lost  his  argument." 

G.  Stronach,  [(N.  &  Q.,  9th  s.,  12:  141)  taking  the  sonnet  series  to  be  a  mis- 
cellany like  the  Pass.  Pilgrim,  believes  that  this  sonnet  was  written  about  Sh. 
by  Barnes.] 

Coleridge  [notes  this  sonnet  as  an  example  of]  Sh.'s  readiness  to  praise  his 
rivals,  ore  pleno,  and  the  confidence  of  his  own  equality  with  those  whom  he 
deemed  most  worthy  of  his  praise.    (Biog.  Lit.,  chap.  2.) 


210  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE    [lxxxvii 

87 
Farewell  thou  art  too  deare  for  my  possessing, 
And  like  enough  thou  knowst  thy  estimate, 
The  Charter  of  thy  worth  giues  thee  releasing : 
My  bonds  in  thee  are  all  determinate. 

For  how  do  I  hold  thee  but  by  thy  granting,  5 

And  for  that  ritches  where  is  my  deseruing? 
The  cause  of  this  faire  guift  in  me  is  wanting, 
And  so  my  pattent  back  againe  is  sweruing. 
Thy  selfe  thou  gau'st,  thy  owne  worth  then  not  knowing,  9 
Or  mee  to  whom  thou  gau'st  it,  else  mistaking, 
So  thy  great  guift  vpon  misprision  growing, 
Comes  home  againe,  on  better  iudgement  making. 
Thus  haue  I  had  thee  as  a  dreame  doth  flatter, 
In  sleepe  a  King,  but  waking  no  such  matter. 

5.  granting,]  granting?  C,  M,  etc. 

6.  that]  those  G2. 

8.  pattent]  patient  Bo  conj. 

Tyler:  This  "farewell"  is  probably  intended,  like  Ophelia's  return  of  Ham- 
let's "remembrances,"  to  evoke  a  renewed  avowal  of  affection.  Wyndham: 
[In  the  group  87-96]  the  spirit  of  the  verse  suddenly  changes:  the  music  be- 
comes plangent,  and  the  theme  of  utter  estrangement  is  handled  with  a  com- 
plete command  over  dramatic  yet  sweetly  modulated  discourse.  The  group  is, 
indeed,  a  single  speech  of  tragic  intensity.  (Intro.,  p.  cxii.)  Walsh:  The  first 
and  last  lines  sound  as  if  addressed  to  a  woman,  the  intervening  as  if  to  a  man; 
which  recalls  to  mind  the  "  master-mistress"  of  S.  20.  .  .  .  But  we  know  of  no 
final  falling  out  with  the  friend  (except  in  Mr.  Butler's  interpretation  of  125). 
Still,  this  may  express  only  a  temporary  mood,  and  so  might  come  after  36  (or 
even  after  58.)  In  the  Quarto  it  is  placed  as  if  addressed  to  the  patron  after  the 
incident  of  the  rival  poet,  —  also  a  possibility. 

I.  Fleay:  Cf.  Drayton,  S.  61: 

Since  there's  no  help,  come,  let  us  kiss  and  part!  .  .  . 
Shake  hands  for  ever!  Cancel  all  our  vows!  [etc.] 

3.  Charter.  [Reproduced  as  "Cha  ter"  in  the  First  Folio  Edition,  the  "r" 
being  wholly  or  partially  obscured  in  some  copies,  though  plain  in  the  Bodleian 
copy  from  which  the  Clarendon  Press  reprint  is  made.  For  the  word,  cf.  58,  9. 
—  Ed.] 


lxxxviii]    THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  211 

3-4.  Lee:  Cf.  Barnes,  P.  &  P.,  S.  15:  "I  shall  resign  thy  love's  large 
charter  and  thy  bonds  again." 

4.  determinate.  M alone:  Ended,  out  of  date.  The  term  is  used  in  legal 
conveyances.  Schmidt:  Limited.  Rolfe:  Cf.  "determination,"  13,6.  [Modern 
editors  generally  cite  Malone's  definition  with  approval,  doubtless  understand- 
ing "bonds  in  thee"  to  mean  "bonds  giving  me  a  claim  upon  thee."  Schmidt 
may  have  taken  "in  thee"  as  belonging  with  "determinate."  —  Ed.] 

6.  that  ritches.  Schmidt:  [Often  used  as  a  singular  noun.] 

7-8.  Cf.  49,  13-14. 

8.  pattent.  Schmidt:  Privilege. 

11.  upon  misprision  growing.  Tyler:  Upon  its  becoming  clear  that  you  had 
made  a  mistake.   Beeching:  Arising  from  an  oversight. 

13.  Dowden:  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  V,  i,  1:  "If  I  may  trust  the  flattering  truth  of 
sleep."  McClumpha:  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  II,  ii,  141:  "A  dream  too  flattering-sweet." 

Dowden:  This  sonnet  in  form  is  distinguished  by  double  rhymes  through- 
out. [Except  lines  2  and  4,  as  noted  by  Rolfe.  Professor  G.  H.  Palmer  speaks 
of  "the  flutterings  of  the  heart  conveyed "  in  these  double  rhymes,  (p.  9.)  Lee 
notes  similar  repeated  participial  endings  in  Daniel,  Sonnets  after  Astrophel,  24, 
and  Watson's  Tears  of  Fancy,  28.] 


When  thou  shalt  be  dispode  to  set  me  light, 

And  place  my  merrit  in  the  eie  of  skorne, 

Vpon  thy  side,  against  my  selfe  ile  fight, 

And  proue  thee  virtuous,  though  thou  art  forsworne: 

With  mine  owne  weakenesse  being  best  acquainted, 

Vpon  thy  part  I  can  set  downe  a  story 

Of  faults  conceald,  wherein  I  am  attainted: 

That  thou  in  loosing  me,  shall  win  much  glory: 

And  I  by  this  wil  be  a  gainer  too, 

For  bending  all  my  louing  thoughts  on  thee, 

The  iniuries  that  to  my  selfe  I  doe, 

Doing  thee  vantage,  duble  vantage  me. 

Such  is  my  loue,  to  thee  I  so  belong, 

That  for  thy  right,  my  selfe  will  beare  all  wrong. 

1.  dispode]  disposde  L;  disposed  1640,  G,  etc. 
3.  my]  thy  1640,  G,  S,  E. 

8.  loosing]  losing  G2,  etc.       shall]  shalt  S,  M,  etc.  (except  Wh2,  N). 
12.  duble  vantage]  Hyphened  by  C,  M,  etc.  (except  Co,  Hal,  Wh1). 


212  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE      [lxxxix 

[Walsh  puts  this  sonnet  next  to  49.  See  note  on  49,  11-12.] 

1.  set  me  light.  Dowden:  Esteem  me  little. 

2.  Malone:  Cf.  Oth.}  IV,  ii,  54: 

The  fixed  figure  for  the  time  of  scorn 
To  point  his  slow  and  moving  finger  at. 

7.  attainted.  See  82,  2. 

12.  Tyler:  Whatever  satisfaction  his  friend  may  find  in  setting  forth  his 
faults,  this  satisfaction  will  be  doubled  to  himself. 

Isaac  [believes  that  this  and  the  two  following  sonnets  belong  with  139-140, 
addressed  to  the  dark  woman.  Line  4,  in  particular,  must  relate  to  a  woman 
and  to  her  of  S.  152.  He  notes  also  that  the  thought  is  repeated  in  S.  149. 
(Archiv,  62:  22-23.)  See,  to  similar  effect,  Walsh's  note  on  S.  89.] 

89 

Say  that  thou  didst  forsake  mee  for  some  fait, 

And  I  will  comment  vpon  that  offence, 

*  Speake  of  my  lamenesse,  and  I  straight  will  halt: 

Against  thy  reasons  making  no  defence. 

Thou  canst  not  (loue)  disgrace  me  halfe  so  ill,  5 

To  set  a  forme  vpon  desired  change, 

As  ile  my  selfe  disgrace,  knowing  thy  wil, 

I  will  acquaintance  strangle  and  looke  strange: 

Be  absent  from  thy  walkes  and  in  my  tongue,  9 

Thy  sweet  beloued  name  no  more  shall  dwell, 

Least  I  (too  much  prophane)  should  do  it  wronge: 

And  haplie  of  our  old  acquaintance  tell. 

For  thee,  against  my  selfe  ile  vow  debate, 

For  I  must  nere  loue  him  whom  thou  dost  hate. 

7.  disgrace,]  disgrace;  G,  S,  E,  Cam,  Do,  But,  Her,  Ox,  Be,  R2;  disgrace:  M, 
A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Wh,  Hal,  ft1,  Ty,  Wy,  N,  Bull,  Wa. 
9.  in]  on  G2,  S2,  E. 
10.  sweet  beloued]  Hyphened  by  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Del,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Kly,  Hu1. 

2.  comment.  Rolfe:  Expatiate.  Beeching:  Moralize.  So  of  Jaques 
(A.  Y.  L.,  II,  i,  65),  "weeping  and  commenting  upon  the  sobbing  dear,"  it 
was  asked,  "Did  he  not  moralize  this  spectacle?"  [I  fail  to  see  what  proof  this 
furnishes  that  the  word  "comment"  means  "moralize."  —  Ed.] 


lxxxix]      THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  213 

3.  lamenesse.  [See  notes  on  37,  3.  In  addition  to  the  comments  there  cited, 
one  may  note  a  defence  of  the  literal  interpretation  by  "  Speriend  "  (N.  &  Q., 
5th  s.,  3:  134,  497),  who  states  that  the  notion  of  Sh.'s  lameness  was  given 
currency  by  Waldron  in  his  edition  of  Jonson's  Sad  Shepherd.]  C.  A.  Brown: 
Had  he  really  been  lame  this  would  have  lost  its  point,  and  the  promise  of 
"making  no  defence"  would  have  been  ridiculous,  (p.  81.)  Cartwright:  The 
author  means,  Speak  of  my  reputation  as  a  player,  and  straight  I  will  acknowl- 
edge it,  as  just  cause  for  your  forsaking  me.   (p.  34.) 

5-8.  Isaac:  [Cf.  Daniel,  S.  27: 

I  '11  tell  the  world  that  I  deserv'd  but  ill, 
And  blame  myself,  for  to  excuse  thy  heart.] 

(Jahrb.,  17:  174.) 

6.  Dowden:  Give  a  becoming  appearance  to  the  change  which  you  desire. 
Cf.  M.  N.  D.,  I,  i,  232-33: 

Things  base  and  vile,  holding  no  quantity, 
Love  can  transpose  to  form  and  dignity. 

[So  Schmidt,  who  renders  "form"  as  "good  semblance."    Beeching  says 
"pretext."] 

8.  acquaintance  strangle.  Malone:  Put  an  end  to  our  familiarity.  Ci.T.N., 
V,  i,  150:  "That  makes  thee  strangle  thy  propriety;"  .  .  .  A.  &  C,  II,  vi,  130: 
"You  shall  find  the  band  that  seems  to  tie  their  friendship  together  will  be  the 
very  strangler  of  their  amity."  Beeching:  [The  metaphor  also  occurs  in  W.  T., 
IV,  iv,  47;  H.  8,  V,  i,  157;  T.  &  C,  IV,  iv,  39.]  looke  strange.  Fleay:  Cf. 
Drayton,  S.  61 : 

When  we  meet  at  any  time  again 
Be  it  not  seen  in  either  of  our  brows 
That  we  one  jot  of  former  love  retain. 

(Biog.  Chron.,  2:  230.) 
8-12.  Cf.  36,  9-12. 

13.  debate.  Schmidt:  Contest.  [Cf.  2  H.  4,  IV,  iv,  2:  "This  debate  that 
bleedeth  at  our  doors."] 

Walsh:  Compare  this  and  the  preceding  sonnet .  .  .  with  149,  which  is 
admitted  to  be  addressed  to  a  woman. 


214  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xc 

90 

Then  hate  me  when  thou  wilt,  if  euer,  now, 

Now  while  the  world  is  bent  my  deeds  to  crosse, 

Ioyne  with  the  spight  of  fortune,  make  me  bow. 

And  doe  not  drop  in  for  an  after  losse : 

Ah  doe  not,  when  my  heart  hath  scapte  this  sorrow,        5 

Come  in  the  rereward  of  a  conquerd  woe, 

Giue  not  a  windy  night  a  rainie  morrow, 

To  linger  out  a  purposd  ouer-throw. 

If  thou  wilt  leaue  me,  do  not  leaue  me  last,  9 

When  other  pettie  griefes  haue  done  their  spight, 

But  in  the  onset  come,  so  stall  I  taste 

At.  first  the  very  worst  of  fortunes  might. 

And  other  straines  of  woe,  which  now  seeme  woe, 
Compar'd  with  losse  of  thee,  will  not  seeme  so. 

4.  after  losse]  Hyphened  by  S1,  C,  M,  etc.  (except  Co,  Wh1,  Hal). 
6.  woe]  foe  Palgrave  conj. 
11.  stall]  shall  1640,  etc. 

2-3.  Beeching:  Does  this  "spite  of  fortune"  refer  to  the  troubles  of  Sh.'s 
company,  due  to  the  popularity  of  the  boy  actors?  See  Haml.,  II,  ii,  352. 
J.  M.:  [Line  2]  we  believe  refers  to  the  growing  puritanism,  which  called  for 
the  prohibition  of  stage  plays.  On  July  28,  1597,  the  Privy  Council  issued  an 
order  that  the  theatres  were  to  be  "plucked  down."  The  "spite  of  fortune," 
"loss,"  and  "sorrow,"  we  believe  refer  to  the  death  of  his  only  son,  Hamnet, 
.  .  .  August,  1596.  (p.  226.)  [The  comma  after  "crosse"]  should  be  substituted 
by  a  semicolon  as  at  the  end  of  line  1.  By  retaining  the  comma  ...  it  is  made 
to  appear  that  the  "bent  of  the  world,"  which  crossed  his  deeds,  and  the  "spite 
of  fortune,"  which  was  a  "sorrow  of  the  heart"  and  a  "loss,"  were  one  and  the 
same.  .  .  .  The  expressions  refer  to  two  distinct  matters,  as  is  further  proved 
by  the  use  of  the  plural  further  on  in  the  sonnet  —  "petty  griefs"  and  "strains 
of  woe."   (p.  69.) 

4.  drop  in.  Schmidt:  Come  in.  [The  only  occurrence  of  the  phrase  noted  in 
the  N.  E.  D.  for  the  Elizabethan  period.  —  Ed.] 

5.  Gervinus,  [like  "J.  M.,M  refers  "this  sorrow"  to  the  death  of  the  poet's 
son.  Isaac  denies  this  {Archiv,  62:  25),  as  contradicted  by  the  "petty  griefs" 
of  line  10.]  Butler:  I  incline  to  think  that  these  lines  refer  to  the  subject  of 
Sonnets  33-34,  and  not  to  the  "spite  of  fortune"  mentioned  in  line  3. 


xc]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  215 

6.  Steevens:  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  Ill,  ii,  121 :  "But  with  a  rear-ward  following 
Tybalt's  death,  '  Romeo  is  banished.' " 

7.  Verity:  Cf.  Lucrece,  1788:  "This  windy  tempest,  till  it  blow  up  rain." 
n-12.  Von  Mauntz:  Cf.  Ovid,  Ex  Ponto,  II,  ii,  31-32: 

Fortuna  miserrima  tuta  est: 
Nam  timor  eventus  deterioris  abest. 

13.  straines.  Schmidt:  Motions  of  the  mind,  feelings  (Germ.  Regung).  [Cf. 
Much  Ado,  V,  i,  12: 

Measure  his  woe  the  length  and  breadth  of  mine, 
And  let  it  answer  every  strain  for  strain.] 

Tyler:  The  expression  .  .  .  may  be  taken  as  nearly  equivalent  to  "kinds  of 
woe,"  though  there  is  probably  added  the  idea  of  extension  or  lengthening. 
Wyndham:  Kinds,  with  the  sense,  also,  of  comparative  degrees-(0.-E. ,  stn 
i.e.,  stock,  race).  Cf.  Cor.,  V,  iii,  149:  "Thou  hast  affected  the  fine  strains  of 
honour."  .  .  .  The  poet,  perhaps,  plays  here,  as  often,  on  the  identity  of  this 
word  with  the  other  "strain"  (O.  Fr.  estraindre  =  to  strain),  suggesting  the 
"strain"  imposed  by  woes  on  the  sufferer.  Beeching:  The  passage  in  Much 
Ado  .  .  .^seems  to  fix  the  meaning  of  "strain"in  both  places  as  "sort,"  "kind," 
which  connects  with  the  root  meaning  of  "race."  woe  .  .  .  woe.  G.  H. 
Palmer  [speaks  of  "the  calamitous  crash  produced  by  the  inner  rhyme"  here, 
(p.  9-)] 

Wyndham:  The  theme  of  [this  sonnet]  is  a  sorrow  which  has,  I  suppose,  been 
suffered,  at  one  time  or  another,  by  most  men:  it  is  hackneyed  as  dying.  Yet 
the  eloquence  is  peerless.  I  doubt  if  in  all  recorded  speech  such  faultless  perfec- 
tion may  be  found,  so  sustained  through  fourteen  consecutive  lines.  That  per- 
fection does  not  arise  from  any  thought  in  the  piece  itself,  for  none  is  abstruse; 
nor  from  its  sentiment,  which  is  common  to  all  who  love,  and  suffer  or  fear  a 
diminution  in  their  love's  return;  nor  even  from  its  imagery,  though  the  line, 
" Give  not  a  windy  night  a  rainy  morrow,"  holds  its  own  against  Keats's  "There 
is  a  budding  morrow  in  midnight,"  which  Rossetti  once  chose  for  the  best  in 
English  poetry.  It  arises  from  perfect  verbal  execution:  from  cliction,  rhythm, 
and  the  just  incidence  of  accentual  stresses  enforced  by  assonance  and  allit- 
eration. (Intro.,  p.  cxxxix.)  Spalding:  An  echo  of  the  cry  that  went  out  from 
another  agonised  breast  some  1600  years  before:  "That  thou  doest,  do  quickly." 
{Gent.  Mag.,  242:315.) 


216  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xci 

9i 
Some  glory  in  their  birth,  some  in  their  skill, 
Some  in  their  wealth,  some  in  their  bodies  force, 
.  Some  in  their  garments  though  new-fangled  ill : 
Some  in  their  Hawkes  and  Hounds,  some  in  their  Horse. 
And  euery  humor  hath  his  adiunct  pleasure,  5 

Wherein  it  findes  a  ioy  aboue  the  rest, 
But  these  perticulers  are  not  my  measure, 
All  these  I  better  in  one  generall  best. 

Thy  loue  is  bitter  then  high  birth  to  me,  9 

Richer  then  wealth,  prouder  then  garments  cost, 
Of  more  delight  then  Hawkes  or  Horses  bee: 
And  hauing  thee,  of  all  mens  pride  I  boast. 
Wretched  in  this  alone,  that  thou  maist  take, 
All  this  away,  and  me  most  wretched  make. 

2.  bodies]  body's  C,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del,  Hu1,  Dy1,  Sta,  CI,  Kly,  Wh1, 
Hal,  Cam,  Do,  Ty,  Ox,  But,  Wa;  bodies'  Gl,  Dy2,  Hu2,  R,  Wh2,  Wy,  Her,  Be, 
N,  Bull. 

4.  Horse]  horse'  Hu2. 

9.  bitter]  better  1640,  G,  etc. 
14.  make.]  make:  Kly. 

3.._jlfiKrfangled  ill.  Rolfe:  Fashionable  but  ugly. 

4.  Horse  PewDEN:  Probably  the  plural;  .  .  .  cf.  T.  of  S.,  Ind.,  61:  "An- 
other tell  him  of  his  hounds  and  horse."  Wyndham:  The  capitals  show  that 
all  three  words  are  generalised,  and  that  they  stand  for  the  establishments  and 
pursuits  of  Hawking,  Hunting,  and  the  Manege. 

10.  Steevens:  Cf.  Cymb.,  Ill,  iii,  23-24: 

Richer  than  doing  nothing  for  a  babe, 
Prouder  than  rustling  in  unpaid-for  silk. 

13-14.  Walsh:  Contrast  this  with  the  ending  of  25. 


xcii}  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  217 

92 

Bvt  doe  thy  worst  to  steale  thy  selfe  away, 

For  tearme  of  life  thou  art  assured  mine, 

And  life  no  longer  then  thy  loue  will  stay, 

For  it  depends  vpon  that  loue  of  thine. 

Then  need  I  not  to  feare  the  worst  of  wrongs,  5 

When  in  the  least  of  them  my  life  hath  end, 

I  see,  a  better  state  to  me  belongs 

Then  that,  which  on  thy  humor  doth  depend. 

Thou  canst  not  vex  me  with  inconstant  minde,  9 

Since  that  my  life  on  thy  reuolt  doth  lie, 

Oh  what  a  happy  title  do  I  finde, 

Happy  to  haue  thy  loue,  happy  to  die! 

But  whats  so  blessed  faire  that  feares  no  t>lot, 

Thou  maist  be  falce,  and  yet  I  know  it  not. 

3.  thy]  my  1640,  G,  S,  E. 

6.  least]  last  But. 

8.  thy]  my  1640,  G,  S,  E. 

13.  blessed  faire]  Hyphened  by  M,  etc.  (except  Co1'2,  Wh1,  Hal),    blot,] 
blot?  G,  etc. 

14.  not.]  not:  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Del,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Kly,  Hu2,  Ty. 

6.  least  Butler  [defends  his  emendation  by  saying:]  Surely  Sh.  cannot 
consider  Mr.  W.  H.'s  leaving  him  as  "the  least"  of  wrongs.  It  would  be  the 
culminating,  and  hence  the  last  misfortune.  Tyler:  The  pain  caused  by  the 
loss  of  the  friend's  affection  is  the  "least  of  wrongs "  on  account  of  its  immediate 
termination.  .  .  .  The  "worst  of  wrongs"  [is]  the  continued  misery  of  living 
alienated. 

10.  on  thy  revolt  doth  lie.  Dowden:  Is  dependent  on  your  desertion.  [Cf. 
Macb.,  V,  iv,  12: 

Both  more  and  less  have  given  him  the  revolt, 
And  none  serve  with  him  but  constrained  things 
Whose  hearts  are  absent  too. 

With  this  phrasing  cf.  also  S.  93,  4.] 


218  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xcm 

93 
So  shall  I  Hue,  supposing  thou  art  true, 
Like  a  deceiued  husband,  so  loues  face, 
May  still  seeme  loue  to  me,  though  alter'd  new: 
Thy  lookes  with  me,  thy  heart  in  other  place. 
For  their  can  Hue  no  hatred  in  thine  eye,  5 

Therefore  in  that  I  cannot  know  thy  change, 
In  manies  lookes,  the  falce  hearts  history 
Is  writ  in  moods  and  frounes  and  wrinckles  strange. 
But  heauen  in  thy  creation  did  decree,  9 

That  in  thy  face  sweet  loue  should  euer  dwell, 
What  ere  thy  thoughts,  or  thy  hearts  workings  be, 
Thy  lookes  should  nothing  thence,  but  sweetnesse  tell. 
How  like  Eaues  apple  doth  thy  beauty  grow, 
If  thy  sweet  vertue  answere  not  thy  show. 

3.  alter'd  new]  Hyphened  by  Del,  Sta,  Kly. 
5.  their]  there  G,  etc. 

11.  What  ere]  What  are  L;  Whatever  G,  etc. 

12.  should]  shall  G,  S,  E. 
14.  answere]  answers  E. 

[The  opening  of  this  sonnet  presents  an  interesting  example  of  the  problem  of 
continuity.  Dowden  observes,  not  without  plausibility,  that  it  "carries  on  the 
thought  of  the  last  line  of  92."  Walsh,  on  the  other  hand,  places  it  after  140, 
and  it  will  be  noted  how  apposite  seems  the  opening  line  in  such  a  connec- 
tion.—  Ed.] 

2.  M alone:  Mr.  Oldys  observes  in  one  of  his  manuscripts,  that  this  and  the 
preceding  sonnet  "seem  to  have  been  addressed  by  Sh.  to  his  beautiful  wife  on 
some  suspicion  of  her  infidelity."  He  must  have  read  our  author's  poems  with 
but  little  attention;  otherwise  he  would  have  seen  that  these,  as  well  as  the 
preceding  sonnets,  and  many  of  those  that  follow,  are  not  addressed  to  a  female. 

4.  Walsh:  [This  line]  clearly  connects  the  sonnet  with  139,  6  and  140,  14. 

5.  thine  eye.  Cf.  104,  2,  etc.,  and  Tyler's  note  on  1,  5. 

7.  manies.  Abbott  [believes  this  form  may  be  explained  by  the  old  noun 
"many."  Cf.  2  H.  4,  I,  Hi,  91:  "O  thou  fond  many."    (§  87.)] 

13.  Eaves  apple.  Stopes:  Which  seemed  "good  for  food,  and  a  thing  to  be 
desired  to  make  men  wise,"  but  in  reality  bringing  death. 


xciv]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  219 

94 
They  that  haue  powre  to  hurt,  and  will  doe  none, 
That  doe  not  do  the  thing,  they  most  do  showe, 
Who  mouing  others,  are  themselues  as  stone, 
Vnmooued,  could,  and  to  temptation  slow: 
They  rightly  do  inherrit  heauens  graces,  5 

And  husband  natures  ritches  from  expence, 
They  are  the  Lords  and  owners  of  their  faces, 
Others,  but  stewards  of  their  excellence : 
The  sommers  flowre  is  to  the  sommer  sweet,  9 

Though  to  it  selfe,  it  onel-y  Hue  and  die, 
But  if  that  flowre  with  base  infection  meete, 
The  basest  weed  out-braues  his  dignity: 

For  sweetest  things  turne  sowrest  by  their  deedes, 
Lillies  that  fester,  smell  far  worse  then  weeds. 

2.  most]  must  G,  S,  E. 

11.  base]  foul  Sta  con ]. 

12.  basest]  barest  Walker  conj. 

Dowden  [thus  outlines  the  thought  of  this  difficult  sonnet:]  They  who  can 
hold  their  passions  in  check,  who  can  refuse  to  wrath  its  outbreak,  who  can 
seem  loving  yet  keep  a  cool  heart,  who  move  passion  in  others,  yet  are  cold  and 
unmoved  themselves  —  they  rightly  inherit  from  heaven  large  gifts,  for  they 
husband  them;  whereas  passionate  intemperate  natures  squander  their  endow- 
ments. Those  who  can  assume  this  or  that  semblance  as  they  see  reason  are 
the  masters  and  owners  of  their  faces;  others  have  no  property  in  such  excel- 
lences as  they  possess,  but  hold  them  for  the  advantage  of  the  prudent  self- 
contained  persons.  True,  these  self-contained  persons  may  seem  to  lack  gener- 
osity; but  then,  without  making  voluntary  gifts,  they  give  inevitably,  even  as 
the  summer's  flower  is  sweet  to  the  summer,  though  it  live  and  die  only  to 
itself.  Yet  let  such  an  one  beware  of  corruption.  Wyndham:  This  sonnet  is 
a  limb  of  the  continuous  argument  embodied  in  [the  group  87-96],  and,  so 
read,  is  not  obscure.  The  friend,  as  described  in  the  preceding  number,  has  a 
face  of  which  the  beauty  is  a  constant  expression  of  love.  .  .  .  But  this  beauty 
becomes  the  type  of  temptation  if  it  be  not  a  true  index  of  virtue.  [In  this  son- 
net] the  poet  develops  the  ambiguity  of  the  theme.  He  first  puts  the  case  of 
those  who,  with  an  outward  beauty  that  is  the  engine  of  temptation,  are  them- 
selves cold  and  not  easily  tempted.    They  are  the  owners  and  controllers  of 


220  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xciv 

their  beauty;  but,  putting  the  alternative  case,  those  whose  beauty  not  only 
tempts  but  also  leads  them  into  temptation,  are  but  dispensers  of  it.  As  an 
emblem  of  the  first  the  poet  takes  a  flower  which  is  sweet  to  the  world  around 
it,  although  it  blossoms  and  dies  to  itself,  self-contained  and  unregarding:  as  an 
emblem  of  the  second,  such  a  flower  if  it  be  infected  with  a  canker.  Tyler: 
Cf.  HamL,  III,  ii,  70-76: 

Thou  hast  been 
As  one,  in  suffering  all,  that  suffers  nothing, 
A  man  that  Fortune's  buffets  and  rewards 
Hath  ta'en  with  equal  thanks;  and  blest  are  those 
Whose  blood  and  judgement  are  so  well  commingled 
That  they  are  not  a  pipe  for  Fortune's  finger 
To  sound  what  stop  she  please. 

Sh.,  himself  perhaps  very  sensitive  and  quickly  moved,  may  have  appreciated 
too  highly  a  different  kind  of  character.  As  to  the  corruption  of  such  a  charac- 
ter as  that  here  described,  cf.  the  portraiture  of  Angelo  in  M.  for  M.  Stopes: 
Sh.  hastens  to  disclaim  any  implied  blame  [in  the  preceding  sonnet],  through 
the  disassociation  of  character  from  appearance.  It  is  rather  a  virtue  to  be 
able  to  control  expression.   But  such  people  must  not  do  the  evil  they  may. 

[This  and  the  two  following  sonnets  will  remind  many  readers  of  69,  which 
Walsh  places  immediately  after  them.  —  Ed.] 

5-8.  Beeching:  It  is  right  that  self-possessed  people  should  be  intrusted 
with  beauty,  because  they  do  not  squander  it  in  passion.  .  .  .  Beautiful  persons 
who  are  not  self-possessed  are  declared  to  have  no  ownership  in  their  beauty, 
because  it  is  always  being  spent  by  them  at  the  command  of  Love,  Anger, 
Remorse,  and  other  passions. 

6.  expence.  Cf.  30,  8  and  129,  1. 

10.  to  it  selfe.  Tyler:  Cf.  54,  n. 

14.  Steevens:  This  line  is  likewise  found  in  the  anonymous  play  of  Edward 
III  (1596).  [The  following  is  the  context,  II,  i,  441-53,  Brooke's  Sh.  Apocrypha, 

p.  79: 

That  sinne  doth  ten  times  agrevate  it  selfe, 

That  is  committed  in  a  holie  place: 
An  evill  deed,  done  by  authoritie, 
Is  sin  and  subornation:  Decke  an  Ape 
In  tissue,  and  the  beautie  of  the  robe 
Adds  but  the  greater  scorne  unto  the  beast. 
A  spatious  field  of  reasons  could  I  urge 
Betweene  his  glorie,  daughter,  and  thy  shame: 
That  poyson  shewes  worst  in  a  golden  cup; 
Darke  night  seemes  darker  by  the  lightning  flash; 
Lillies  that  fester  smel  far  worse  then  weeds; 
And  every  glory  that  inclynes  to  sin, 
The  shame  is  treble  by  the  opposite.] 


xciv]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  221 

Dowden:  It  should  be  remembered  that  several  critics  assign  to  Sh.  a  portion 
of  this  play  [including  the  passage  in  question].  C.  F.  Tucker  Brooke:  The 
trend  of  modern  opinion  inclines  strongly  to  the  negative  side.  The  long  list  of 
those  who  deny  the  presence  in  the  play  of  more  than,  conceivably,  a  few  brief 
insertions  by  Sh.,  includes:  Mr.  Swinburne,  Dr.  Furnivall,  Saintsbury,  Knight, 
Symonds,  G.  C.  Moore  Smith,  Ulrici,  Delius,  Warnke  and  Prbescholdt,  H.  von 
Friesen,  and  Liebau.  (Sh.  Apocrypha,  p.  xxi.)  [Critics  disagree  as  to  the  sig- 
nificance of  this  repetition,  but  the  majority  think  that  the  prior  composition 
of  the  line  in  the  sonnet  is  to  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  here  it  appears  to  be 
an  integral  part  of  the  poem,  whereas  in  the  drama  it  is  superfluous  if  not 
irrelevant.  This  position  has  been  taken  by  Delius  (Jahrb.,  1:  48),  Isaac 
(Jahrb.,  19: 210),  Sarrazin,  (Sh.'s  Lehrjahre,  p.  167),  and  A.  Platt  (Mod.  Lang. 
Rev.,  6:  511),  with  the  corollary  that  the  sonnet  was  written  as  early  as  1595. 
So  also  Lee:  "A  line  [from  Edw.  Ill]  reappears  in  Sh.'s  Sonnets.  It  was  con- 
trary to  his  practice  to  literally  plagiarise  himself.  The  line  in  the  play  was 
doubtless  borrowed  from  a  MS.  copy  of  the  Sonnets."  (Life,  p.  72.)  Dowden, 
on  the  other  hand  (Intro.,  p.  23)  thinks  it  "the  more  likely  supposition"  that 
the  sonnet  borrowed  from  the  play.  Beeching  thinks  the  point  incapable  of 
proof:  "A  line  that  embalms  a  proverb  may  be  expected  to  occur  in  more  than 
one  context,  and  no  safe  conclusion  can  be  drawn  as  to  the  priority  of  one  over 
another.  .  .  .  But  it  needs  no  argument  that  the  style  of  the  speech  in  Edw.  Ill, 
if  it  be  Sh.'s,  is  much  earlier  than  that  of  this  sonnet."  Mrs.  Stopes  believes 
that  the  line  was  first  written,  for  the  sonnet,  in  answer  to  a  passage  in  Willo- 
bies  Avisa,  c.  10: 

Unhappie  lillie  loves  a  weed 

That  gives  no  sent,  that  yields  no  glee; 

and  was  "repeated"  in  the  play.  My  friend  Professor  H.  D.  Gray  adds  a  note 
which  at  least  represents  a  fresh  point  of  approach:  "Has  it  been  noted  that 
the  line  would  be  more  likely  to  come  back  into  Sh.'s  memory,  and  be  used  by 
him  in  this  sonnet,  from  his  having  acted  in  the  play,  than  from  his  having 
written  the  line?  Especially  is  this  true  if  the  line  were  one  that  he  himself  had 
spoken  from  the  stage.  It  occurs  in  II,  i,  and  is  spoken  by  Warwick.  If  it  were 
indeed  true  that  Sh.  played  Adam  in  A.  Y.  L.,  and  the  Ghost  in  Hamlet, 
Warwick  would  be  an  entirely  appropriate  part  for  him.  Edw.  Ill  was  pro- 
duced by  1595  and  probably  before;  Sonnets  94-96  are  to  be  placed  rather 
among  the  later  than  the  earlier  ones.  There  is  therefore  no  likelihood  that  the 
play  could  be  indebted  to  the  sonnet."  With  all  this  one  must  compare  the 
similar  discussion  of  a  phrase  in  142,  6.  The  only  conclusion  would  seem  to  be 
that  here,  as  in  every  other  passage  where  there  is  a  momentary  gleam  of  hope 
that  the  Sonnets  furnish  a  definite  piece  of  internal  evidence  for  the  date 
or  circumstances  of  their  composition,  the  gleam  soon  vanishes  over  the  mar- 
gin. —  Ed.] 

Regis  [finds  in  this  concluding  couplet  a  resemblance  to  a  passage  in  Plato, 
Republic,  Bk.  6:  "Whatever  doth  not  meet  with  the  proper  nourishment,  .  .  . 


222  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xcv 

the  more  vigorous  it  is  by  nature,  the  more  it  is  defective  in  the  excellencies  of 

its  kind";  and  also  to  Dante,  Purg.,  30:  118-20: 

Ma  tanto  piu  maligno  e  piu  silvestro 
Si  fa  il  terren  col  mal  seme  e  non  colto, 
Quant'  egli  ha  piu  del  buon  vigor  terrestro.] 

Walsh  [remarks  that  it  is]  a  variation  of  the  old  proverb  "Cbrruptio  optimi 
pessima."  Dowden  [compares  with  the  whole  sonnet  a  passage  in  T.N.,  III, 
iv,  401-04:] 

In  nature  there's  no  blemish  but  the  mind; 

None  can  be  call'd  deform'd  but  the  unkind: 

Virtue  is  beauty,  but  the  beauteous  evil 

Are  empty  trunks  o'erflourish'd  by  the  devil. 

95 
How  sweet  and  louely  dost  thou  make  the  shame, 
Which  like  a  canker  in  the  fragrant  Rose, 
Doth  spot  the  beau  tie  of  thy  budding  name? 
Oh  in  what  sweets  doest  thou  thy  sinnes  inclose ! 
That  tongue  that  tells  the  story  of  thy  daies,  5 

(Making  lasciuious  comments  on  thy  sport) 
Cannot  dispraise,  but  in  a  kinde  of  praise, 
Naming  thy  name,  blesses  an  ill  report. 
Oh  what  a  mansion  haue  those  vices  got,  9 

Which  for  their  habitation  chose  out  thee, 
Where  beauties  vaile  doth  couer  euery  blot, 
And  all  things  turnes  to  faire,  that  eies  can  see! 
Take  heed  (deare  heart)  of  this  large  priuiledge, 
The  hardest  knife  ill  vs'd  doth  loose  his  edge. 

7.  dispraise,  .  .  .  praise,]  dispraise;  .  .  .  praise,  S1;  dispraise,  .  .  .  praise;  G, 
S2;  dispraise  .  .  .  praise;  M,  etc.  (except  Hu1,  Wa);  dispraise  .  .  .  praise:  Hu1, 
Wa. 
9.  vices]  voices  E. 

10.  chose]  choose  1640,  G1,  S1,  E;  chuse  G2,  S2. 
12.  turnes]  turn  G2,  etc.  (except  Ty,  Be,  N). 
14.  loose]  lose  G,  etc. 

Tyler:  The  scandal  .  .  .  which  the  poet  had  previously  mentioned  and 
treated  as  slander,  seems  (if  it  be  the  same)  now  to  have  become  too  obviously 
true  to  admit  of  being  rebutted  or  extenuated. 


xcvi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  223 

6.  sport.  Schmidt:  Pleasure.    Rolfe:  Sensuality.    [Cf.   Oth.,   II,  i,  229: 
"When  the  blood  is  made  dull  with  the  act  of  sport."J 
8.  Steevens:  Cf.  A.  &  C,  II,  ii,  243-45: 

Vilest  things 
Become  themselves  in  her;  that  the  holy  priests 
Bless  her  when  she  is  riggish. 

9-12.  Massey:  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  Ill,  ii,  83-85: 

Was  ever  book  containing  such  vile  matter 

So  fairly  bound?  O,  that  deceit  should  dwell 

In  such  a  gorgeous  palace!  (p.  177.) 

12.  Rolfe:  Cf.  40,  13.  turnes.  [Tyler  explicitly,  and  presumably  Beech- 
ing  and  Neilson,  believe  that  this  may  be  taken  transitively,  with  "vaile"  as 
subject.] 

Isaac:  [This  and  the  following  sonnet  are  addressed  to  the  dark  lady.  .  .  . 
Lines  9-12  make  the  reference  to  her  clear;  and  lines  4,  7,  8  of  S.  96  might  well 
stand  in  S.  150.  Compare  the  note  on  S.  70.   (Archiv,  62:  14,  18.)] 

96 

Some  say  thy  fault  is  youth,  some  wantonesse, 
Some  say  thy  grace  is  youth  and  gentle  sport, 
Both  grace  and  faults  are  lou'd  of  more  and  lesse: 
Thou  makst  faults  graces,  that  to  thee  resort: 
As  on  the  finger  of  a  throned  Queene,  5 

The  basest  Iewell  wil  be  well  esteem'd : 
So  are  those  errors  that  in  thee  are  seene, 
To  truths  translated,  and  for  true  things  deem'd. 
How  many  Lambs  might  the  sterne  Wolfe  betray,  9 

If  like  a  Lambe  he  could  his  lookes  translate. 
How  many  gazers  mighst  thou  lead  away, 
If  thou  wouldst  vse  the  strength  of  all  thy  state? 
But  doe  not  so,  I  loue  thee  in  such  sort, 
As  thou  being  mine,  mine  is  thy  good  report. 
11.  mighst]  mightst  L,  C,  M,  etc. 
This  sonnet  was  omitted  from  the  Poems  of  1640  and  editions  based  thereon. 

2.  sport.  Cf.  95,  6. 

3.  Beeching:  [This  sonnet]  emphasizes  the  conclusion  drawn  from  36  that 


224  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xcvi 

the  friend  was  a  well-known  personage.  He  is  some  one  whom  "more  and  less" 
(i.e.,  high  and  low)  discuss.  (Intro.,  p.  xxx.)  more  and  lesse.  M alone:  Cf.  I H. 
4,  IV,  iii,  68:  "The  more  and  less  came  in  with  cap  and  knee." 

4.  Cf.  95,  4;  150,  5. 

7-8.  errors  .  .  .  to  truths  translated.  Tyler:  Vices  changed  to  virtues.  [For 
"truths,"  cf.  note  on  54,  2.  For  "translated,"  Dowden  compares  Haml.,  Ill, 
i,  113:  "  The  force  of  honesty  can  translate  beauty  into  his  likeness."] 

9.  Lambs  .  .  .  Wolfe.  Wyndham:  [Capitalized  because]  they  are  types 
used  as  in  a  fable. 

9-10.  Dowden:  The  same  thought  expressed  in  different  imagery  appears 
in  93. 

11-12.  Isaac:  [Cf.  Daniel,  S.  17:] 

If  her  defects  have  purchas'd  her  this  fame, 
What  should  her  virtues  do,  her  smiles,  her  love? 
If  this  her  worst,  how  should  her  best  inflame? 

'     (Jahrb.,  17:  174.) 
[Cf.  70,  13-14.  — Ed.] 

12.  the  strength  of  all  thy  state.  Schmidt:  All  thy  strength.  Dowden:  The 
strength  of  all  thy  majesty,  splendour.  Tyler:  All  the  power  of  thy  noble 
beauty.   Lee:  The  full  extent  of  thy  strength.   [Cf.  notes  on  64,  9-10.] 

13-14.  M alone:  This  is  likewise  the  concluding  couplet  of  S.  36.  Delius: 
It  is  evident  that  the  couplet  is  more  in  place  in  S.  36,  and  probably  was  bor- 
rowed from  there  for  S.  96.  (Jahrb.,  1:  48.)  [According  to  Massey's  arrange- 
ment, the  repetition  of  the  lines  is  due  to  the  fact  that  they  are  now  represented 
as  being  spoken  by  the  person  to  whom  they  were  previously  addressed,  and  by 
such  repetition  doubled  in  pathos,  (p.  98.)]  Dowden:  [It  is  possible]  that  the 
MS.  in  Thorpe's  hands  may  here  have  been  imperfect,  and  that  he  filled  it  up 
so  far  as  to  complete  96  with  a  couplet  from  an  earlier  sonnet.  (Intro.,  p.  32m) 
Rolfe:  [If  Dowden's  conjecture  is  accepted,  it  is  another  evidence  that  Sh. 
had  no  connection  with  the  publication  of  the  Q.  (Intro.,  rev.  ed.,  p.  13.)] 
Walsh:  [This  couplet,]  being  the  same  words  as  the  couplet  ending  36  (ad- 
mittedly addressed  to  the  friend),  is  more  likely  to  have  been  addressed  to  a 
different  person,  who  would  not  perceive  the  repetition. 

Rolfe:  I  doubt  whether  [Sonnets  96-99]  have  anything  to  do  with  "Mr. 
W.  H.,"  or  are  addressed  to  a  man. 

Massey  [doubts  the  Shakespearean  authorship  of  this  sonnet,  together  with 
that  of  130,  145,  151,  and  153,  "chiefly  on  the  score  of  bad  workmanship," 
attributing  them  to  Pembroke.   (Ath.,  Mar.  16,  1867,  p.  356.)] 

[The  character  sketched  in  this  and  the  preceding  sonnet  may  well  be  com- 
pared with  that  of  the  Don  Juan  type  of  hero  in  the  Lover's  Complaint.  —  Ed.] 


xcvii]         THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  225 

97 
How  like  a  Winter  hath  my  absence  beene 
From  thee,  the  pleasure  of  the  fleeting  yeare? 
What  freezings  haue  I  felt,  what  darke  daies  seene? 
What  old  Decembers  barenesse  euery  where? 
And  yet  this  time  remou'd  was  sommers  time,  5 

The  teeming  Autumne  big  with  ritch  increase, 
Bearing  the  wanton  burthen  of  the  prime, 
Like  widdowed  wombes  after  their  Lords  decease: 
Yet  this  aboundant  issue  seem'd  to  me,  9 

But  hope  of  Orphans,  and  vn-fathered  fruite, 
For  Sommer  and  his  pleasures  waite  on  thee, 
And  thou  away,  the  very  birds  are  mute. 
Or  if  they  sing,  tis  with  so  dull  a  cheere, 
That  leaues  looke  pale,  dreading  the  Winters  neere. 

4.  barenesse]  barenness  G1;  barrenness  G2,  S2,  E. 

6.  The]  And  C;  Then  Isaac  conj. 

7.  burthen]  burden  G2,  S2,  E,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Kly, 
Hal,  Ty,  Ox,  N,  Bull,  Wa. 

8.  Lords]  lord's  1640,  G,  S,  E,  Kly,  Hal,  Ty,  Wy;  lords1  C,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B, 
Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Wh,  Cam,  Do,  R,  Ox,  But,  etc. 

10.  hope]  crop  Sta  conj.,  But. 
14.  Winters]  winter's  G2,  S2,  etc. 

Dowden:  A  new  group  of  sonnets  seems  to  begin  here.  Wyndham:  The 
break  between  this  and  the  preceding  sonnet  seems  the  most  marked  in  the 

First  Series. 

• 

5.  this  time  remov'd.  M alone:  This  time  in  which  I  was  remote  or  absent 
from  thee.  Schmidt:  Time  of  absence.  [Cf.  "the  absent  time,"  R.  2,  II,  iii,  79.] 

6.  Malone:  Cf.  M.  N.  D.,  II,  i,  112:  "The  childing  autumn."  [Any  who 
wish  may  find  in  Massey,  p.  180,  the  explanation  that  this  is  "subtly  allusive" 
to  the  fact  that  Elizabeth  Vernon  was  about  to  give  birth  to  a  child.] 

7.  prime.  Malone:  Spring.  [Cf.  70,  8.  —  Ed.] 

10.  hope  of  Orphans.  Dowden:  Such  hope  as  orphans  bring;  or,  expecta- 
tion of  the  birth  of  children  whose  father  is  dead.  Isaac:  ["Unfather'd  fruit" 
shows  that  the  phrase  is  objective  genitive.  (Archiv,  62:  4.)]  Tyler:  Hope 
of  leaving  posthumous  offspring.  Beeching:  Unborn  orphans;  cf.  60,  13; 
"times  in  hope"  =  unborn  times. 


226  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE         [xcvn 

13.  cheere.  Schmidt:  (High)  spirits.  Rolfe;  Countenance;  its  original 
sense.  [But  is  it  not  going  too  far  to  detect  low  spirits  in  the  faces  of  the 
birds  ?  —  Ed.] 

[Isaac  (Archiv,  62:  1)  takes  the  view,  already  noted  from  Rolfe,  that  this 
and  the  two  following  sonnets  were  not  addressed  to  a  man.  So  Massey:]  Not 
only  is  the  whole  of  their  lovely  imagery  sacred  to  the  sex,  as  I  call  it;  not  only 
is  it  so  used  by  Sh.  all  through  his  work;  not  only  did  Spenser  address  his  lady- 
love in  exactly  the  same  strain,  in  his  Sonnets  35  and  64;  .  .  .  but  the  images 
had  been  previously  applied  seriatim  by  Constable  in  his  Diana  [see  notes  on 
S.  99].   (p.  27.) 

Isaac:  [This  sonnet  might  be  called]  the  classical  acme  of  the  Renaissance 
lyric  as  it  grew  up  in  Italy.  (Archiv,  62:  2.)  Price  [notes  that  here,  as  in  some 
other  sonnets,  there  is  an  exact  balance  between  the  masculine  and  feminine 
form  of  cesura,  each  occurring  seven  times.  "The  reader  is  conscious  of  the 
exquisite  harmony  that  results."  (p.  373.)  See  also  his  note  on  S.  33.]  G.  H. 
Palmer  [speaks  of  the  "poignant  matter"  of  this  sonnet  as  "driven  home  by 
the  vowel  e."   (p.  9.)] 

Hudson  [believes  that  this  and  the  two  following  sonnets,  as  well  as  109-117 
and  the  "Will"  sonnets,  were  addressed  to  Anne  Hathaway.  (Life,  Art,  & 
Characters  of  Sh.,  1 :  24-5.)] 


xcvin]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  227 

98 

From  you  haue  I  beene  absent  in  the  spring, 
When  proud  pide  Aprill  (drest  in  all  his  trim) 
Hath  put  a  spirit  of  youth  in  euery  riling,: 
That  heauie  Saturne  laugh t  and  leapt  with  him. 
Yet  nor  the  laies  of  birds,  nor  the  sweet  smell  5 

Of  different  flowers  in  odor  and  in  hew, 
Could  make  me  any  summers  story  tell : 
Or  from  their  proud  lap  pluck  them  where  they  grew: 
Nor  did  I  wonder  at  the  Lillies  white,  9 

Nor  praise  the  deepe  vermillion  in  the  Rose, 
They  weare  but  sweet,  but  figures  of  delight: 
Drawne  after  you,  you  patterne  of  all  those. 
Yet  seem'd  it  Winter  still,  and  you  away, 
As  with  your  shaddow  I  with  these  did  play. 

1.  haue  I]  /  have  G2. 

2.  proud  pide]  proud-py'd  E;  proud-pied  M,  etc. 

3.  Hath]  Had  But. 

5.  Yet  nor]  Yet  not  G,  S,  E. 

9.  Lillies]  lilly's  C;  lily's  Co,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  Gl,  Kly,  Wh,  Hal,  Cam,  Do, 
R,  Ox,  etc. 

n.  weare]  were  1640,  G  etc.  but  sweet,  but]  my  sweet,  but  M  conj.;  but  fleeting 
Lettsom  conj.,  Hu2;  but,  sweet,  but  But;  but  suite,  but  Bulloch  conj. 

14.  play.]  play:  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Wh,  Hal, 
Ty,  Her,  Be. 

Lee:  Almost  all  16th  century  sonnets  on  spring  in  the  absence  of  the  poet's 
love  are  variations  on  the  sentiment  and  phraseology  of  Petrarch's  well-known 
S.  42,  "  In  morte  di  M.  Laura,"  beginning,  "Zefiro  torna  e'l  tel  tempo  rimena," 
[etc.]  See  a  translation  by  Drummond  of  Hawthornden  in  Sonnets,  pt.  2,  No.  9 
["Sweet  Spring,  thou  turn'st  with  all  thy  goodly  train"].  Similar  sonnets  and 
odes  on  April,  spring,  and  summer  abound  in  French  and  English  (cf.  Becq  de 
Fouquiere's  CEuvres  Choisies  de  J.- A.  de  Baif,  passim,  and  CEuvres  choisies  des 
contemporains  de  Ronsard,)  p.  108  (by  Remy  Belleau);  p.  129  (by  Amadis  Jamyn) 
et  passim.  {Life,  p.  in.)  [This  conventionality  of  theme  had  been  earlier  noted 
by  Isaac  {Archiv,  62:  5-8),  who,  in  addition  to  the  analogues  noted  by  Lee, 
gives  examples  from  Dante,  Surrey  ("The  soote  season,  that  bud  and  bloom 
forth  brings"),  and  Sidney  ("In  wonted  walks").] 


228  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE        [xcvm 

1-4.  Wyndham:  The  assonance  between  the  two  rhyme-sounds,  usually  a 
blemish,  is  here  an  effect  of  art.  The  quick  treble  repetition  of  short  ^-sounds 
seems  to  have  suggested  Spring  to  the  Elizabethans.   Cf.  A.  Y.  L.,  V,  Hi,  20: 

In  the  spring  time,  the  only  pretty  ring  time, 
When  birds  do  sing,  hey  ding  a  ding,  ding: 
Sweet  lovers  love  the  spring; 

and  Nash,  Summer's  Last  Will: 

Spring,  the  sweet  spring,  is  the  year's  pleasant  king; 
Then  blooms  each  thing,  then  maids  dance  in  a  ring, 
Cold  doth  not  sting,  the  pretty  birds  do  sing. 

2.  Malone:  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  I,  ii,  27:  "When  well-apparell'd  April  on  the  heel 
of  limping  winter  treads."  Rolfe:  Sh.  refers  to  April  oftener  than  to  any 
other  month.  .  .  .  Cf.  3,  10;  21,  7;  104,  7.   May,  however,  is  a  "close  second." 

4.  heavie  Saturne.  Wyndham  [quotes  Lilly's  Introduction  to  Astrology,  1647:] 
The  planet  Saturn  "is  melancholy  .  .  .  author  of  solitariness  ...  in  labour 
patient,  in  arguing  or  disputing  grave  ...  in  all  manner  of  actions  austere." 
[He  is  also  disposed  to  view  the  passage  as  significant  for  the  date  of  the  sonnet, 
saying:  &h.]  would  not,  I  am  convinced,  have  [introduced  Saturn  into  a  descrip- 
tion of  a  particular  month  of  April],  had  not  Saturn  been  a  visible  feature  in 
the  sky  during  the  month  of  April  to  which  he  refers.  .  .  .  Saturn  was  in  opposi- 
tion, and  therefore  a  somewhat  conspicuous  feature  in  the  sky,  during  the 
month  of  April  in  the  years  1600,  1601.  ...  If,  as  I  hold,  Sh.  wrote  S.  98  with 
the  real  Saturn  in  his  mind,  then  he  cannot  have  written  it  before  1600  and  may, 
with  greater  probability,  have  written  it  in  1601  or  1602,  when  Saturn  was  more 
conspicuous  and  gradually  presenting  a  larger  disc.  (p.  245.)  [I  have  given  due 
space  to  this  interesting  argument,  but  have  no  notion  that  it  is  to  be  taken 
seriously.  The  "Saturn"  of  the  sonnet  is  not  the  planet  but  the  god,  conceived 
of  as  in  Cymb.,  II,  v,  12:  "The  sweet  view  on't  might  well  have  warm'd  old 
Saturn."  —  Ed.] 

7.  summers  story.  Malone:  By  a  "summer's  story"  Sh.  seems  to  have 
meant  some  gay  fiction.  Thus,  his  comedy  founded  on  the  adventures  of  the 
king  and  queen  of  the  fairies  he  calls  A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream.  On  the 
other  hand,  in  W.T.  (II,  i,  25)  he  tells  us,  "A  sad  tale's  best  for  winter."  So 
also  in  Cymb.  (Ill,  iv,  12): 

If  't  be  summer  news 
Smile  to  't  before;  if  winterly,  thou  need'st 
But  keep  that  countenance  still. 

9-10.  Lee:  Cf.  Barnfield,  Affectionate  Shepherd,  I,  ill  1 

His  ivory-white  and  alabaster  skin 

Is  stain'd  throughout  with  rare  vermilion  red.  .  . . 

But  as  the  lily  and  the  blushing  rose, 

So  white  and  red  on  him  in  order  grows. 


xcviii]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  2<zg 

II.  but  sweet.  Malone  [defending  his  suggested  emendation]:  What  more 
could  be  expected  from  flowers  than  that  they  should  be  sweet?  To  gratify  the 
smell  is  their  highest  praise.  I  suspect  the  compositor  caught  the  word  "but" 
from  a  subsequent  part  of  the  line.  Steevens:  The  old  reading  is  surely  the 
true  one.  The  poet  refuses  to  enlarge  on  the  beauty  of  the  flowers,  declaring 
that  they  are  only  sweet,  only  delightful,  so  far  as  they  resemble  his  friend. 
Beeching:  To  [Malone]  it  is  sufficient  to  reply  that  "they  were  but  sweet" 
is  a  reference  back  to  line  5;  and  in  the  following  sonnet  .  .  .  both  sweetness 
and  beauty  are  dwelt  upon.   [See  99,  15.  —  Ed.] 

11-12.  Simpson  [refers  this  idea  to  Plato's  doctrine  that]  the  affection  can 
be  transferred  by  association  from  its  primitive  object  to  new  ones,  and  yet 
the  primitive  object  will  still  remain  the  real  one.  .  .  .  The  affection  for  the  new 
objects,  he  says,  is  only  the  affection  for  the  old  one  under  other  denominations 
and  disguises.  [See  his  note  on  S.  31 ;  and,  for  both  these  lines  and  the  "shadow" 
of  line  14,  Wyndham's  note  on  37,  10.] 

14.  Massey  [had  the  extraordinary  belief  that  this  line  refers  to  the  spring 
as  the  shadow  or  symbol  of  Lady  Vernon,  —  with  a  play  on  her  name.  (p.  180.)] 

Minto  [finds  a  striking  resemblance  between  this  sonnet  and  one  called 
"Phaeton  to  his  friend  Florio,"  prefixed  to  Florio's  Second  Frutes  (1591): 

Sweet  friend  whose  name  agrees  with  thy  increase, 

How  fit  arrival  art  thou  of  the  Spring! 

For  when  each  branch  hath  left  his  flourishing, 

And  green-lock'd  Summer's  shady  pleasures  cease, 

She  makes  the  Winter's  storms  repose  in  peace, 

And  spends  her  franchise  on  each  living  thing: 

The  daisies  sprout,  the  little  birds  do  sing, 

Herbs,  gums,  and  plants  do  vaunt  of  their  release;  (etc.) 

leading  him  to  believe  Sh.  the  author  of  the  latter.    {Char,  of  Eng.  Poetry,  pp. 
371-382.)   No  one  else  seems  to  have  been  impressed  by  the  comparison.] 


230  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xcix 

99 

The  forward  violet  thus  did  I  chide, 

Sweet  theefe  whence  didst  thou  steale  thy  sweet  that  smels 

If  not  from  my  loues  breath,  the  purple  pride, 

Which  on  thy  soft  cheeke  for  complexion  dwells? 

In  my  loues  veines  thou  hast  too  grosely  died ;  5 

The  Lillie  I  condemned  for  thy  hand, 

And  buds  of  marierom  had  stolne  thy  haire, 

The  Roses  fearefully  on  thornes  did  stand, 

Our  blushing  shame,  an  other  white  dispaire :  9 

A  third  nor  red,  nor  white,  had  stolne  of  both, 

And  to  his  robbry  had  annext  thy  breath, 

But  for  his  theft  in  pride  of  all  his  growth 

A  vengfull  canker  eate  him  vp  to  death. 
More  flowers  I  noted,  yet  I  none  could  see, 
But  sweet,  or  culler  it  had  stolne  from  thee. 

1.  forward]  f toward  Sharp. 

2-5.  Sweet . . .  died]  Quoted  by  Hu1,  Kly,  Be. 

3.  breath]  breast  Godwin  conj. 

3-4.  breath, .  .  .  dwells?]  breath?  .  .  .  dwells  G,  Dy,  Gl,  Cam,  Do,  Hu2,  R, 
Wh2,  Ox,  etc.;  breath?  .  .  .  dwells,  S,  E,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Hu1,  Del,  Sta,  CI,  Kly, 
Wh1,  Hal,  Ty. 

7.  marierom]  marjerom  1640,  G1,  C;  marjoram  G2,  S,  E,  M,  etc. 

9.  Our]  One  S,  etc. 
13.  eate]  ate  But. 
15.  sweet]  scent  Walker  conj. 

Massey  [was  perhaps  the  first  of  many  commentators  to  compare  this  sonnet 
with  Constable's  Diana,  1st  Decade,  S.  9:] 

My  lady's  presence  makes  the  roses  red, 
Because  to  see  her  lips  they  blush  for  shame. 
The  lily's  leaves,  for  envy,  pale  became; 
And  her  white  hands  in  them  this  envy  bred. 
The  marigold  the  leaves  abroad  doth  spread; 
Because  the  sun's  and  her  power  is  the  same. 
The  violet  of  purple  colour  came, 
Dyed  in  the  blood  she  made  my  heart  to  shed. 


xcix]         THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  231 

In  brief,  all  flowers  from  her  their  virtue  take; 
From  her  sweet  breath  their  sweet  smells  do  proceed; 
The  living  heat  which  her  eyebeams  doth  make 
Warmeth  the  ground,  and  quickeneth  the  seed. 
The  rain,  wherewith  she  watereth  the  flowers, 
Falls  from  mine  eyes,  which  she  dissolves  in  showers. 

Dowden  [compares  also  Spenser,  Amoretti,  S.  64  (quoted  under  S.  21).]  [Cf. 
also  Daniel,  Delia,  S.  19,  "Restore  thy  tresses  to  the  golden  ore,"  etc.  (quoted 
above  under  S.  21.)  —  Ed.]  Wyndham:  These  flower-sonnets  are  in  a  mode 
imitated  from  Petrarch,  which  overran  Europe  in  the  16th  century.  The 
Pleiade  worked  it  vigorously  and  then  attacked  it,  as  Sh.  attacks  it  in  21,  and 
again  in  130.  Lee:  Ronsard  {Amours,  i,  140)  tells  how  from  the  flowers  "du 
beau  jardin  de  son  printemps  riant"  (i.e.,  from  his  mistress)  come  all  the  sweet 
perfumes  of  the  East. 

1.  forward.  Schmidt:  Early  ripe.  Beeching:  Spring.  A  constant,  not  a 
particular,  epithet  of  the  violet.   Cf.  HamL,  I,  iii,  8: 

A  violet  in  the  youth  of  primy  nature, 
Forward,  not  permanent,  sweet,  not  lasting. 

6.  for  thy  hand.  M alone:  For  presuming  to  emulate  the  whiteness  of  thy 
hand.  Dowden:  For  theft  of  the  whiteness  of  thy  hand.  Beeching:  In  com- 
parison with.  [Dowden's  interpretation,  which  is  followed  by  Tyler  and  Rolfe, 
is  undoubtedly  right.  —  Ed.] 

7.  marierom.  Massey:  The  buds  of  marjoram  are  of  a  darkish  red-brown 
hue,  and  have  a  peculiar  hair-like  lustre  or  glossiness,  (p.  180.)  Dowden:  Cf. 
Suckling's  Brennoralt,  IV,  i: 

Hair  curling,  and  cover'd  like  buds  of  marjoram; 
Part  tied  in  negligence,  part  loosely  flowing. 

Mr.  H.  C.  Hart  tells  me  that  buds  of  marjoram  are  dark  purple-red  before  they 
open,  and  afterwards  pink;  dark  auburn,  I  suppose,  would  be  the  nearest 
approach  to  marjoram  in  the  colour  of  hair.  Mr.  Hart  suggests  that  the  mar- 
joram has  stolen  not  colour  but  perfume  from  the  young  man's  hair.  Gervase 
Markham  gives  sweet  marjoram  as  an  ingredient  in  "The  water  of  sweet 
smells,"  and  Culpepper  says  "marjoram  is  much  used  in  all  odoriferous  waters." 
Wyndham:  The  clean,  aromatic  scent  of  this  sweet  herb  counted,  no  doubt, 
for  something  in  suggesting  the  simile,  but  the  quotation  from  Suckling  gives 
the  more  direct  clu^.  The  illimtitiar is,  primarily,  from  the  fresh,  close-leaved 
spike  of  marjoram  with  t^e  crisp  bSi©teh  of  little  buds  at  its  summit.  Cf. 
T.  N.  K.:  ^^4  *  * 

His  head 's  yellow, 
Hard  hayr'cj,  and  curl'd,  thick  twind,  like  ivy-tops. 

Beeching:  The  passage  from  Suckling  is,  of  course,  only  a  reminiscence  of 
this  line  in  the  sonnet,  and  does  not  take  us  any  further.   I  have  a  bunch  of 


232  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [xcix 

half-opened  marjoram  before  me  as  I  write;  and  the  colour  is  that  of  the  pig- 
ment known  as  "brown  madder."  The  context  shows  that  it  is  the  "colour," 
and  not,  as  some  have  thought,  the  "shape,"  that  is  referred  to.  Mrs.  Stopes 
[(Ath.,  March  19,  1898,  p.  375)  describes  a  portrait  of  Southampton  at  Welbeck 
Abbey,  in  which  the  Earl  is  represented  as  wearing]  his  hair  not  after  the 
fashion  of  his  time,  but  hanging  over  his  left  shoulder  in  long  locks,  the  ends 
curling  like  "buds  of  marjoram."  [This  is  reproduced  in  Lee's  Life,  facing 
p.  144.  The  question  whether  the  passage  is  an  allusion  to  color  or  odor  is  dis- 
cussed by  W.  B.  Brown  and  others,  N.&  @.,nths.,  pp.  169, 213,  237.  C.  C.  B. 
observes  (p.  237):]  Sh.'s  marjoram  is  usually  sweet  marjoram,  otherwise  mar- 
joram gentle,  the  flowers  of  which  are  white,  and  probably  it  is  of  this  variety 
that  he  speaks  here,  the  flowers  of  this  and  the  preceding  sonnet  being  mostly 
garden  flowers.  ...  Is  it  possible  that  Sh.  is  reminded  of  some  pomade  used  by 
his  friend?  ...  In  an  old  book  of  receipts  for  cosmetics,  etc.  (The  Toilet  of 
Flora,  1779),  I  find  two  washes  for  the  hair  into  which  marjoram  enters. 

8.  on  thornes.  Rolfe:  A  quibbling  allusion  to  the  proverbial  expression, 
"to  stand  on  thorns."   Cf.  W.T.,  IV,  iv,  595:  "O  the  thorns  we  stand  upon!" 

9.  Verity:  Cf.  Lucrece,  479:  "And  the  red  rose  blush  at  her  own  disgrace." 
12.  M alone:  Cf.  R.  &  J.}  II,  iii,  30:  "Full  soon  the  canker  death  eats  up 

that  plant ";  and  V.  &  A.,  656:  "This  canker  that  eats  up  love's  tender  spring." 

[With  reference  to  this  sonnet's  having  15  lines,  Butler  observes  that  the 
interrogation  mark  at  the  end  of  line  4  in  the  Q]  is  what  Sh.  doubtless  wrote  in 
the  first  instance  —  intending  the  quatrain  to  end  with  a  question.  He  prob- 
ably canceled  the  query  —  or  forgot  to  cancel  it  —  and  added  the  fifth  line, 
because  until  he  did  so  the  query  remained  unanswered,  unless  by  bringing  the 
answer  to  the  preceding  query  over.  Beeching:  It  may  be  conjectured  that 
we  have  here  only  a  rough  draft  of  the  sonnet.  The  correspondence  of  line  1  to 
line  6  shows  that  the  first  line  was  not  an  afterthought;  and  the  repetition  of 
the  reference  to  "breath"  in  line  11  suggests  that  Sh.  used  a  quatrain  already 
written  (lines  2-5)  for  his  passage  about  the  violet,  intending  afterwards  to 
reduce  it  to  three  lines  by  limiting  the  parallel  to  "complexion."  Lee:  Many 
sonnets  of  15  lines  appear  in  Barnes's  Parthenophil,  e.g.,  35,  36,  38,  39,  40,  etc. 
[In  all  these  cases  the  extra  line  introduces  the  final  couplet,  and  rhymes  with 
the  12th.  —  Ed.] 

Brandl  [considers  that  this  sonnet  is  almost  certainly  addressed  to  a  woman, 
(p.  xix.)  So  Rolfe:]  Even  in  Elizabethan  times,  when  extravagant  eulogies 
of  manly  beauty  were  so  common,  do  we  find  the  poet  dwelling  upon  his  "love's 
breath"  or  the  "lily"  whiteness  of  his  hand?  From  first  to  last,  the  sweetness 
and  loveliness  described  in  the  verses  are  unmistakably  feminine.  (Intro.,  rev. 
ed.,  p.  24.) 

G.  Wilson,  [in  his  Five  Gateways  of  Knowledge,  refers  to  this  as  a  poem 
which]  beautifully  weaves  together  the  eye,  the  nostril,  and  the  ear,  each  as  it 
were  like  instruments  in  an  orchestra,  in  turn  playing  the  air,  and  then  falling 
back  into  an  accompaniment,  so  that  now  it  is  colour  which  is  most  prominent 


c]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  233 

before  us,  and  then  smell,  and  then  sound,  and  thereafter  through  colour  we 
return  to  sound  and  fragrance  again,   (p.  78.) 

[A  repulsive  and  impossible  interpretation  of  the  sonnet  was  proposed  by 
Creighton  (together  with  115  and  124)  in  Blackwood's,  169:  837-43.] 


IOO 

Where  art  thou  Muse  that  thou  forge tst  so  long, 
To  speake  of  that  which  giues  thee  all  thy  might? 
Spendst  thou  thy  furie  on  some  worthlesse  songe, 
Darkning  thy  powre  to  lend  base  subiects  light. 
Returne  forgetfull  Muse,  and  straight  redeeme,  5 

In  gentle  numbers  time  so  idely  spent, 
Sing  to  the  eare  that  doth  thy  laies  esteeme, 
And  giues  thy  pen  both  skill  and  argument. 
Rise  resty  Muse,  my  loues  sweet  face  suruay,  9 

If  time  haue  any  wrincle  grauen  there, 
If  any,  be  a  Satire  to  decay, 
And  make  times  spoiles  dispised  euery  where. 
Giue  my  loue  fame  faster  then  time  wasts  life, 
So  thou  preuenst  his  sieth,  and  crooked  knife. 

4.  light]  light?  G,  etc.  (except  But);  light  I  But. 

8.  giues]  give  1640,  G,  S,  E. 

9.  resty]  restive  M,  A,  B,  Kly,  Ty;  rested  But  conj. 
10.  haue]  hath  G,  S,  E. 

14.  preuenst]  prevent' st  G,  etc. 

Dowden:  Written  after  a  cessation  from  sonnet- writing,  during  which  Sh. 
had  been  engaged  in  authorship,  —  writing  plays  for  the  public  as  I  suppose, 
instead  of  poems  for  his  friend.  Wyndham:  [The  group  100-125]  opens  after  a 
great  silence,  .  .  .  and  the  poet  develops  in  it  a  single  sustained  attack  on  the 
Law  of  Change.  ...  In  its  survey  it  goes  over  the  old  themes  with  a  soft  and 
silvery  touch:  Beauty  and  Decay,  Love,  Constancy,  the  immortalizing  of  the 
friend's  beauty  conceived  as  an  incarnation  of  Ideal  Beauty.  (Intro.,  pp.  cxiii- 
cxiv.)  Butler:  [The  sonnet  appears  to  have  been  written]  after  a  considerable 
interval  during  which  Sh.  has  found  other  things  to  write  about,  but  has  not 
yet  (so  it  would  seem)  become  a  playwright.  [With  the  theme  of  silence,  and 
the  excuse  given  in  the  following  sonnet,  cf.  83-85.  —  Ed.] 

1.  so  long.  Beeching:  Three  years;  see  104,  3. 

2.  Tyler:  Cf.  78,  13. 


234  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [c 

3.  furie.  Schmidt:  Exaltation  of  fancy.  [Cf.  L.  L.  L.,  IV,  iii,  229:  "What 
zeal,  what  fury  hath  inspir'd  thee  now?"]  Beeching:  A  word  borrowed  from 
the  classics,  and  used  as  by  them  of  prophetic  inspiration,  worthlesse  songe. 
Porter:  The  sonnet  sequence  (86-96)  preceding  suits  the  description  of  it  as 
"darkning"  power  and  lending  light  to  "base  subjects,"  i.e.,  falsity  and  dis- 
trust in  love. 

8.  Lee:  Cf.  Ronsard,  Amours,  ii,  12:  "Ma  plume  sinon  vous  ne  scait  autre 
sujet,"  etc.   [For  "argument,"  cf.  note  on  38,  3.] 

9.  resty.  Schmidt:  Stiff  with  too  much  rest,  torpid.  [Cf.  Edw.  Ill,  III,  iii, 
161: 

And  presently  they  are  as  resty-stiff 
As  't  were  a  many  over-ridden  jades.] 

Dyce  [cites  Coles's  Latin  Dictionary  (1677),  as  giving  "resty"  =  "piger, 
lentus."]  Tyler  [defends  the  emendation  "restive,"]  as  equivalent  to  "un- 
easy," "in  aimless  motion,"  "wandering."  Cf.  "truant  Muse,"  101,  1.  Sh.'s 
Muse  had  not  been  at  rest  (lines  3-4).  [Tyler  also  discusses  the  subject  in  N.  & 
Q.,8th  s.,2:  283;  and  C.  C.  B.  (ibi d.,  4:  444)  cites  two  instances  of  the  word  from 
Pappe  with  an  Hatchet,  meaning  "uneasy,  liable  to  bolt."]  Wyndham:  A  term 
of  manege  applied  to  a  horse  exhibiting  the  vice  now  called  "jibbing."  [From 
a  review  in  the  Spectator,  Aug.  15,  1 891,  p.  231,  he  cites  an  account  of  a  "correc- 
tion to  be  used  against  restiveness,"  which  appeared  in  a  book  by  Flatman, 
I597-  It  concludes:  "The  shrill  crie  of  a  hedgehog  being  strait  tied  by  the  foot 
under  the  horse's  tail  is  a  reminder  of  like  force,  which  was  proved  by  maister 
Vincentio  Respino,  a  Neapolitan,  who  corrected  by  this  means  an  old  restive 
horse  of  the  King's  in  such  sort,  as  he  had  much  ado  afterwards  to  keep  him 
from  the  contrarie  vice  of  running  away."  The  N.  E.  D.  cites,  under  "resty," 
Cooper's  Thesaurus,  1565:  "Restie  and  slow  from  lack  of  use."] 

10-11.  Butler:  These  lines  suggest  that  Mr.  W.  H.'s  good  looks  were 
beginning  to  go  off,  though  not  so  strongly  as  the  opening  lines  of  S.  104,  nor 
the  concluding  ones  of  108. 

11.  Satire.  Walker:  Satirist.  [Cf.  Jonson,  Poetaster,  V,  i:  "The  honest 
satyr  hath  the  happiest  soul";  and  other  contemporary  examples.  Schmidt, 
on  the  other  hand,  lists  the  word  under  the  impersonal  noun.] 

12.  times  spoiles.  [Sonnets  63-64  are  the  best  comment  on  this  phrase.  — 
Ed.] 

14.  prevenst.  Steevens:  By  anticipation  hinderest. 

Sharp:  This  sonnet  may  .  .  .  afford  a  clue  towards  dating  this  section  of 
the  sequence,  for  it  may  contain  a  reference  to  the  Dark  Woman  series:  here 
Sh.  may  have  noted  his  turning  away  from  the  deceitful  love  of  an  evil  woman. 
.  .  .  "Instead  of  wasting  thy  poetic  enthusiasm  ...  in  casting  a  glamour  over 
base  subjects,"  etc.  ["  Casting  a  glamour"  is  an  odd  phrase  for  the  sonnets  that 
depict  the  Dark  Woman !  —  Ed.] 


ci]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  235 

10 1 

Oh  truant  Muse  what  shalbe  thy  amends, 

For  thy  neglect  of  truth  in  beauty  di'd? 

Both  truth  and  beauty  on  my  loue  depends: 

So  dost  thou  too,  and  therein  dignifi'd:  - 

Make  answere  Muse,  wilt  thou  not  haply  saie,  5 

Truth  needs  no  collour  with  his  collour  fixt, 

Beautie  no  pensell,  beauties  truth  to  lay: 

But  best  is  best,  if  neuer  intermixt. 

Because  he  needs  no  praise,  wilt  thou  be  dumb?  9 

Excuse  not  silence  so,  for't  lies  in  thee, 

To  make  him  much  out-liue  a  gilded  tombe: 

And  to  be  praisd  of  ages  yet  to  be. 

Then  do  thy  office  Muse,  I  teach  thee  how, 

To  make  him  seeme  long  hence,  as  he  showes  now. 

3.  Both]5w*  1640,  G,  S,  E. 
6.  fixt]  mix'd  But. 

6-8.  Truth  .  .  .  intermixt]  Italics  by  M,  A,  Kly,  Co*  Hu2;  quoted  by  Kt, 
Co1.2,  B,  Hu1,  Del,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Wh,  Hal,  Cam,  Do,  R,  Ty,  Ox,  Wy,  Her,  etc. 

10.  not]  no  G,  S,  E.        for't]  for  it  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Kly,  Co3. 

11.  him]  her  1640,  G,  S,  E. 

14.  him  .  .  .  he]  her  .  .  .  she  1640,  G,  S,  E. 

[C.  A.  Brown  makes  this  the  envoy  of  his  "fourth  poem,"  Sonnets  78-101.] 
[Mr.  Horace  Davis  notes  the  resemblance  of  this  sonnet  to  83-84.  Cf. 
especially  line  6  with  83,  1-2,  and  line  4  with  84,  8.] 

2.  Wyndham  [finds  here  again  the  platonic  idea  of  beauty:]  He  argues  that 
the  Idea  of  Beauty,  embodied  in  his  friend's  beauty,  of  which  all  other  beautiful 
things  are  shadows,  is  also  Truth:  an  exact  coincidence  with  an  "eternal  form" 
to  which  transitory  presentments  do  but  approximate.  [Cf.  62,  6.]  (Intro., 
p.  cxxiv.)  [See,  however,  for  a  sufficient  explanation  of  the  passage,  my  note  on 
54,  2.  —  Ed.] 

3.  Walsh:  Cf.  14,  11  and  14.  depends.  [For  the  singular,  see  Abbott's 
note  on  41, 3.]  .        • 

6.  collour.  Wyndham:  The  poet  plays  on  the  word,  which,  in  the  first 
instance,  means  defence,  extenuation.  Beeching:  His  truth  needs  no  praise, 
or  "colour,"  because  his  own  "colour,"  or  beauty,  sufficiently  fixes  it.  [The 
meaning  is  rather  "plausible  pretence"  or  "semblance,"  with  an  emphasis  on 


236  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [en 

false  or  artificial  semblance.  Wyndham's  gloss  is  not  supported  by  the  passage 
which  he  cites  from  I  H.  6,  II,  iv,  34:  "  I  love  no  colours,  and  without  all  colour 
of  base  insinuating  flattery,"  etc.  Schmidt  more  aptly  cites  HatnL,  III,  iv,  130: 
"What  I  have  to  do  will  want  true  colour,  tears  perchance  for  blood."  Rolfe 
says  that  "his  colour"  is  "that  of  my  friend";  I  should  say  "its  own  colour," 
referring  to  truth.  —  Ed.]  fixt.  Schmidt:  Native  and  unchangeable.   Wynd- 
ham:  Here  a  term  of  painting.  .  .  .  Cf.  W.T.,  V,  iii,  47:  "The  statue  is  but 
newly  fix'd,  the  colour's  not  dry."    Butler  [defends  his  wholly  unnecessary 
emendation,  "mixt,"  by  showing  that  Sh.  elsewhere  uses  such  rhymes  as  press: 
express,  etc.] 
7.  lay.  Schmidt:  Apply  as  a  colour.  [Cf.  T.N.,  I,  v,  258: 
'T  is  beauty  truly  blent,  whose  red  and  white 
Nature's  own  sweet  and  cunning  hand  laid  on.] 

Drake:  [In  this  sonnet  Sh.  distinctly  marks]  the  sex,  the  dignity,  the  rank, 
and  moral  virtue  of  his  friend.   {Sh.  &  his  Times,  2:  69.) 


I02 

My  loue  is  strengthned  though  more  weake  in  seeming 

I  loue  not  lesse,  thogh  lesse  the  show  appeare, 

That  loue  is  marchandiz'd,  whose  ritch  esteeming, 

The  owners  tongue  doth  publish  euery  where. 

Our  loue  was  new,  and  then  but  in  the  spring,  5 

When  I  was  wont  to  greet  it  with  my  laies, 

As  Philomell  in  summers  front  doth  singe, 

And  stops  his  pipe  in  growth  of  riper  daies: 

Not  that  the  summer  is  lesse  pleasant  now  9 

Then  when  her  mournefull  himns  did  hush  the  night, 

But  that  wild  musick  burthens  euery  bow, 

And  sweets  growne  common  loose  their  deare  delight. 

Therefore  like  her,  I  some-time  hold  my  tongue: 

Because  I  would  not  dull  you  with  my  songe. 

3.  marchandiz'd]  merchandiz'd  G,  etc. 
6.  with]  in  G,  S,  E. 

8.  his]  her  Housman,  Walker  conj.,  Kt,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Kly, 
Hal,  Cam,  Co8,  Do,  R,  Wh2,  Ox,  Her,  etc. 

11.  burthens]  burdens  Ga,  Sa,  E,  M,  Co,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Hal,  N, 
Bull. 

12.  loose]  lose  G,  etc. 


cm]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  237 

3.  marchandiz'd.  *Capell:  Cf.  L.  L.  L.,  II,  i,  13-16: 

My  beauty,  though  but  mean, 
Needs  not  the  painted  flourish  of  your  praise. 
Beauty  is  bought  by  judgement  of  the  eye, 
Not  utter'd  by  base  sale  of  chapmen's  tongues. 

5-6.  Gollancz  :  The  poet  definitely  identifies  the  friend  addressed  with  the 
patron  of  his  early  poems.  (Intro.,  p.  xx.)  Beeching:  The  whole  point  of  the 
sonnet  is  lost  unless  we  refer  it  to  the  earlier  sonnets.  [I  know  not  on  what 
ground  any  reader  may  claim  to  have  information  as  to  just  what  writings  are 
here  referred  to.  —  Ed.] 

7.  summers  front.  Malone:  Cf.  W.T.,  IV,  iv,  3:  "Flora,  peering  in  April's 
front";  and  Cor.,  II,  i,  57:  "The  forehead  of  the  morning." 

8.  his.  [The  only  question  as  to  the  emendation  is  as  to  whether  it  should  be 
made  here  or  in  line  10;  and,  as  Beeching  observes,]  The  singing  nightingale 
in  Sh.  is  always  female.  Cf.  M.V.,  V,  i,  104;  R.  &  J.,  Ill,  v,  4. 

IO3 

Alack  what  pouerty  my  Muse  brings  forth, 

That  hauing  such  a  skope  to  show  her  pride, 

The  argument  all  bare  is  of  more  worth 

Then  when  it  hath  my  added  praise  beside. 

Oh  blame  me  not  if  I  no  more  can  write!  5 

Looke  in  your  glasse  and  there  appeares  a  face, 

That  ouer-goes  my  blunt  inuention  quite, 

Dulling  my  lines,  and  doing  me  disgrace. 

Were  it  not  sinfull  then  striuing  to  mend,  9 

To  marre  the  subiect  that  before  was  well, 

For  to  no  other  passe  my  verses  tend, 

Then  of  your  graces  and  your  gifts  to  tell. 

And  more,  much  more  then  in  my  verse  can  sit, 

Your  owne  glasse  showes  you,  when  you  looke  in  it. 

10.  well,]  well?  L,  etc. 
13.  sit]  ^/  Del  conj. 

[With  the  content  of  this  sonnet  cf.  the  very  similar  thought  of  S.  84.  Mr. 
Horace  Davis  notes  also  the  resemblance  of  this  sonnet,  and  105,  to  S.  76.  Cf. 
especially  the  repetition  of  the  words  "pride,"  "argument,"  "invention."] 


238  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cm 

Von  Mauntz:  Cf.  Ovid,  Tristia,  I,  v,  53-56: 

Si  vox  infragilis,  pectus  mihi  firmius  aere, 
Pluraque  cum  Unguis  pluribus  ora  forent: 

Non  tamen  idcirco  complecterer  omnia  verbis, 
Materia  vires  exsuperante  meas.  ■ 

3.  argument.  See  note  on  38,  3.  all  bare.  Dowden:  Merely  as  it  is  in  itself. 
7.  blunt.  Schmidt:  Clumsy,    invention.  Cf.  38,  8;  59,  3;  76,  6. 
9-10.  Malone:  Cf.  K.J.,  IV,  ii,  28-29: 

When  workmen  strive  to  do  better  than  well, 
They  do  confound  their  skill; 

and  Lear,  I,  iv,  369:  "Striving  to  better,  oft  we  mar  what's  well." 

11.  passe.  Tyler:  The  word  here  is  probably  figurative,  the  metaphor  being 
perhaps  derived  from  the  pass  in  fencing.  Beeching:  The  word  usually  im- 
plies an  embarrassing  situation,  and  there  may  be  a  suggestion  of  that  sense 
here.  Rolfe:  Issue,  result.  [So  the  N.  E.  D.,  which  cites  the  line  under  the 
meaning  "event,  issue."] 

12.  gifts.  Walsh:  Perhaps  intended  to  include  reference  to  presents;  cf. 
"bounty"  in  53,  11. 

13.  sit.  Cf.  37,  7. 

13-14.  Stopes:  Perhaps  the  poorest  of  all  Sh.'s  sonnet  endings. 


civ]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  239 

104 

To  me  faire  friend  you  neuer  can  be  old, 
For  as  you  were  when  first  your  eye  I  eyde, 
Such  seemes  your  beautie  still :  Three  Winters  colde, 
Haue  from  the  forrests  shooke  three  summers  pride, 
Three  beautious  springs  to  yellow  Autumne  turn'd,  5 

In  processe  of  the  seasons  haue  I  seene, 
Three  Aprill  perfumes  in  three  hot  Iunes  burn'd, 
Since  first  I  saw  you  fresh  which  yet  are  greene. 
Ah  yet  doth  beauty  like  a  Dyall  hand,  9 

Steale  from  his  figure,  and  no  pace  perceiu'd, 
So  your  sweete  hew,  which  me  thinkes  still  doth  stand 
Hath  motion,  and  mine  eye  may  be  deceaued. 
For  feare  of  which,  heare  this  thou  age  vnbred, 
Ere  you  were  borne  was  beauties  summer  dead. 

1.  friend]  love  1640,  G,  S,  E. 

3.  Winters]  winters'  Walker  conj.,  Kt,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Hu2,  Bull. 

4.  forrests]  forest  G2,  S2,  E. 
10.  pace]  place  1640,  G,  S,  E. 
II;  doth]  do  G1;  does  G2,  S,  E. 

14.  were]  was  G,  S,  E.        beauties]  beatties  1640. 

[A  number  of  commentators  have  found  this  sonnet  of  special  interest  be- 
cause the  mention  of  the  definite  period  of  three  years  seemed  to  give  hope  of 
a  clue  to  some  of  the  time-relations  of  the  Sonnets.  Sarrazin,  in  particular, 
has  taken  it  as  a  key-sonnet  for  the  dating  of  the  collection  (Jahrb.,  34:  368-71), 
making  a  special  study  of  its  style  with  relation  to  that  of  the  plays.  With 
line  2  he  compares  R.  2,  IV,  i,  285:  "Is  this  the  face  which  fac'd  so  many 
follies?";  with  lines  3-7,  R.  2,  I,  iii,  141  ("Till  twice  five  summers  have  enrich'd 
our  fields")  and  214  ("Four  lagging  winters  and  four  wanton  springs"),  R.  &  J., 
I,  ii,  10  ("Let  two  more  summers  wither  in  their  pride"),  and  M.N.  D.,  I,  i, 

7-8: 

Four  days  will  quickly  steep  themselves  in  night, 
Four  nights  will  quickly  dream  away  the  time; 

with  line  9,  Lucrece,  327  ("The  hourly  dial  who  with  a  ling'ring  stay  his  course 
doth  let"),  R.  2,  V,  v,  53  ("Whereto  my  finger,  like  a  dial's  point"),  1  H.  4, 
V,  ii,  84  ("If  life  did  ride  upon  a  dial's  point"),  R.  &  J.,  II,  iv,  118  ("The 
bawdy  hand  of  the  dial"),  etc.;  the  conclusion  being  that  the  sonnet  is  in  Sh.'s 


240  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [civ 

style  of  the  period  1594-6.  Hence,  if  the  Sonnets  were  begun  three  years 
before,  we  may  date  the  earlier  ones  about  1592.  Without  dissenting  from  this 
view  of  the  date  of  S.  104,  I  am  unable  to  see  how  Sarrazin  and  others  can  have 
assurance  either  that  the  opening  sonnets  of  the  present  collection  are  the  first 
ones  which  Sh.  addressed  to  the  friend  of  S.  104,  or  that  he  wrote  them  at  pre- 
cisely the  time  when  first  the  friend's  eye  he  eyed.  —  Ed.] 
Isaac  [compares  this  sonnet  with  Daniel's  Delia,  S.  36: 

When  men  shall  find  thy  flower,  thy  glory  pass, 
And  thou,  with  careful  brow,  sitting  alone, 
Received  hast  this  message  from  thy  glass, 
That  tells  the  truth,  and  says  that  "All  is  gone";  etc.] 

1.  Butler:  It  would  seem  as  though  Mr.  W.  H.  had  been  saying  something 
to  Sh.  about  his  looking  old. 

2.  your  eye.  Tyler:  [Cf.  1,  5  and  note.] 

3.  Winters.  Dyce  [defends  his  reading  of  this  as  possessive,  in  which  he 
anticipated  Walker's  conjecture  {Git.  Exam.,  2:  100),  and  approves  Walker's 
remark  that  "the  syntax,  though  ungrammatical  according  to  our  present 
notions,  is  perfectly  Elizabethan."] 

3-8.  Tyler:  [This,  in  conjunction  with  indications  of  the  spring  of  1601  as 
the  date  of  Sonnets  100-126  (see  notes  on  107  and  124),  indicates  the  spring  of 
1598  as  the  time  when  Sh.'s  acquaintance  with  Mr.  W.  H.  began.  (Intro.,  p. 
27.)]  Lee:  The  period  seems  to  have  been  more  or  less  conventional  among  the 
sonneteers.  Cf.  Ronsard's  Sonnets  pour  Helene,  i,  14,  which  begins,  "Trois  ans 
sont  ja  passez  que  ton  ceil  me  tient  pris,"  and  Daniel,  Sonnets  after  Astrophel, 
No.  17  (of  his  love):  "That  was  with  blood  and  three  years'  witness  signed." 

4.  Goldwin  Smith:  Cf.  Horace:  "Sylvis  honorem  decutit."  (Sh.  the  Man, 
p.  12.)  [Apparently  a  confused  reference  to  Vergil,  Georg.,  2:  404:  "Silvis 
Aquilo  decussit  honorem."  —  Ed.] 

7.  Beeching:  The  image  seems  to  be  from  throwing  incense  on  a  fire. 

10.  M alone:  Cf.  77,  7-8. 

11.  hew.  Cf.  20,  7,  and  notes,  me  thinkes.  [Abbott  feels  bound  to  accent 
"me"  here,  though  he  admits  that  Shakespearean  practice  is  not  conclusive  for 
such  usage.   (§  492.)] 

13-14.  thou  .  .  .  you.  [For  the  change  of  pronoun  cf.  24,  5-6,  and  notes. 
Stengel  (Eng.  Stud.,  4:  10)  thinks  that  the  discrepancy  should  be  removed 
from  the  text.  It  is  possible  that  in  line  14  the  poet  is  thinking  of  the  various 
members  of  posterity,  and,  addressing  them,  says  "Ere  you  were  born."  —  Ed.] 

14.  Cf.  68,  13-14. 

Walsh:  With  the  two  ideas  in  this  sonnet  (the  apparent  permanence  of 
beauty  and  ultimate  triumph  of  decay)  is  to  be  compared  [S.  126.] 


cv]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  241 

105 

Let  not  my  loue  be  cal'd  Idolatrie, 

Nor  my  beloued  as  an  Idoll  show, 

Since  all  alike  my  songs  and  praises  be 

To  one,  of  one,  still  such,  and  euer  so. 

Kinde  is  my  loue  to  day,  to  morrow  kinde,  5 

Still  constant  in  a  wondrous  excellence, 

Therefore  my  verse  to  constancie  confin'de, 

One  thing  expressing,  leaues  out  difference. 

Faire,  kinde,  and  true,  is  all  my  argument,  9 

Faire,  kinde  and  true,  varrying  to  other  words, 

And  in  this  change  is  my  inuention  spent, 

Three  theams  in  one,  which  wondrous  scope  affords. 

Faire,  kinde,  and  true,  haue  often  liu'd  alone. 

Which  three  till  now,  neuer  kept  seate  in  one. 

1.  be]  by  G1. 

9,  10,  13.  Faire  . . .  true]  Quoted  by  Gl,  Cam,  Do,  R,  Wh2,  Ox,  Wy,  Her, 
etc.  [In  13  Be  reads:  "Fair,"  "kind,"  and  "true."] 
14.  neuer  kept  seate]  never  sate  G1;  did  never  sit  G2;  have  never  sate  S,  E. 

[For  the  general  content  of  this  sonnet,  cf.  S.  76.  —  Ed.] 

1.  Wyndham:  His  love  is  not  idolatry  since  he  worships  only  at  one  shrine. 
Beeching:  There  could  be  monidolatry  as  well  as  monotheism.  "Since" 
means  "on  the  ground  that."  The  poet  says,  "Let  not  my  entire  devotion  to 
one  friend  be  called  idolatry."  [This  interpretation  of  Beeching's  is  confirmed 
by  Sh.'s  usual  employment  of  the  word.  —  Ed.] 

2.  show.  For  the  intransitive  use,  cf.  101,  14. 

8.  leaves  out  difference.  Schmidt  [defines  "difference"  as  "variety,"  as  in 
A.  Y.  L.,  II,  i,  6:  "The  seasons'  difference."]  Rolfe:  Omits  reference  to  other 
qualities. 

9-12.  Rolfe:  Cf.  M.V.,  II,  vi,  53"56: 

For  she  is  wise,  if  I  can  judge  of  her, 
And  fair  she  is,  if  that  mine  eyes  be  true, 
And  true  she  is,  as  she  hath  prov'd  herself, 
And  therefore,  like  herself,  wise,  fair,  and  true. 
[Karpf,  who  finds  in  the  Sonnets  an  elaboration  of  Aristotelian  philosophy, 
sees  in  this  trinity  of  qualities  the  True,  Good,  and  Beautiful  of  Aristotle's 
gottliche   Vernunft.    (pp.  123-24.)   The  same  notion  is  echoed  by  Wyndham, 


242  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cvi 

who  calls  the  triad  "nothing  else  than  the  three  primal  categories  of  philos- 
ophy." —  Than  which,  I  fancy,  nothing  could  more  surprise  Sh*  —  Ed.] 
ii.  invention.  See  note  on  76,  6. 

12.  Horace  Davis:  Cf.  Constable,  Diana,  1st  Decade,  S.  10: 

Heralds  at  arms  do  three  perfections  quote, 
To  wit,  most  fair,  most  rich,  most  glittering; 
So,  when -those  three  concur  within  one  thing, 
Needs  must  that  thing  of  honour  be  a  note. 

13.  [Beeching  was  the  first,  I  think,  to  punctuate  this  line  intelligently, 
quoting  separately  the  three  adjective-nouns.  —  Ed.] 

Shindler:  [Since  the  complaint  of  monotony  here  implied  cannot  be  brought 
against  the  sonnets  of  our  collection,  we  have]  a  clear  indication  that  we  have 
lost  ...  a  considerable  number.   (Gent.  Mag.,  272:  78.) 

Creighton:  [This  sonnet]  might  be  headed  with  the  Pembroke  motto:  Ung 
je  servirai.  {Blackwood's,  169:  674.)  [Those  who  are  fain  to  thread  the  dance 
of  the  Pembrokists  and  Southamptonists  will  rejoice  to  find  that  Brandl 
(p.  xxxvii)  sees  in  line  4  the  motto  of  the  house  of  Southampton,  Ung  par  tout, 
tout  par  ung.] 

106 

When  in  the  Chronicle  of  wasted  time, 
I  see  discriptions  of  the  fairest  wights, 
And  beau  tie  making  beautifull  old  rime, 
In  praise  of  Ladies  dead,  and  louely  Knights, 
Then  in  the  blazon  of  sweet  beauties  best,  5 

Of  hand,  of  foote,  of  lip,  of  eye,  of  brow, 
I  see  their  antique  Pen  would  haue  exprest, 
Euen  such  a  beauty  as  you  maister  now. 
So  all  their  praises  are  but  prophesies  9 

Of  this  our  time,  all  you  prefiguring, 
And  for  they  look'd  but  with  deuining  eyes, 
They  had  not  still  enough  your  worth  to  sing: 
For  we  which  now  behold  these  present  dayes, 
Haue  eyes  to  wonder,  but  lack  toungs  to  praise. 

7.  antique]  antick  G,  S,  E.        exprest]  express  G1. 

8.  Euen]  E'en  S1. 

12.  still]  skill  Tyr  conj.,  C,  M,  etc.  (except  Wy). 

13.  which]  who  G,  S,  E. 


cvi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  243 

1-4.  Drake:  It  is  highly  probable  that  our  bard  alluded  to  Chaucer  [in 
these  lines.]  (Sh.  &  his  Times,  2:  79.)  [Hales  suggested  to  Dowden  that  Sh. 
may  have  been  thinking  of  the  Faerie  Queene.] 

3.  [Surely  a  plausible  competitor  for  the  claim  to  be  the  loveliest  line  in  the 
Sonnets.   Note  the  rhythm  of  the  last  two  feet.  —  Ed.] 

5.  blazon.  Beeching:  The  description  or  proclamation  of  a  coat  of  arms. 
...  It  is  noteworthy,  in  relation  to  the  date  of  the  Sonnets,  that  all  the  other 
instances  of  the  use  of  the  word  by  Sh.  are  subsequent  to  the  application  for  a 
grant  of  arms  in  1596. 

7.  antique.  See  note  on  19,  10. 

7-8.  Lee  [again  compares  Spenser's  sonnet  to  Lord  Howard,  cited  under  59, 

13-14.] 

8.  maister.  Schmidt:  Possess.  [Cf.  Lucrece,  863:  "Leaves  it  (his  gold)  to  be 
master'd  by  his  young."] 

9-10.  Main:  Cf.  Constable's  7th  Sonnet: 

Miracle  of  the  world,  I  never  will  deny 
That  former  poets  praise  the  beauty  of  their  days; 
But  all  those  beauties  were  but  figures  of  thy  praise, 
And  all  those  poets  did  of  thee  but  prophesy. 

[Dowden  refers  this  sonnet  of  Constable's  to  the  Diana;  instead,  it  is  the  7th 
of  the  Miscellaneous  Sonnets ;  on  which  Beeching  observes:]  The  sonnet  is 
not  in  Diana;  it  is  therefore  subsequent  to  1594;  and  as  the  last  line,  "which 
only  we  without  idolatry  adore,"  looks  like  a  reference  to  Sh.'s  105th  Sonnet,  it 
is  most  probable  that  Constable  is  quoting  Sh.  here  also. 

11.  devining.   Rolfe:  Only  guessing. 

12.  still.  Dowden:  A  meaning  may  be  forced  [from  the  Q  reading:]  "Only 
divining  your  beauty,  they  did  not  as  yet  possess  enough  to  sing  your  worth." 
Wyndham:  [The  emendation  "skill"]  has  been  universally  adopted,  but  it  puts 
the  sense  of  the  last  six  lines  out  of  focus.  ...  In  lines  1-8  the  poet  defers,  here 
as  elsewhere,  to  the  artistic  excellence  of  the  antique  presentment  of  beauty. 
[Cf.  note  on  83,  7.]  .  .  .  He  assumes  that  the  ideal  is,  as  we  say,  the  classic,  the 
type  determined  long  since  by  a  tradition  of  great  artists.  .  .  .  Although  they 
could  write  —  could,  indeed,  "blazon  sweet  beauty's  best"  —  still  they  lacked 
something  essential,  viz.  the  model  which  we  can  behold  and  wonder  at,  "but 
lack  tongues  to  praise."  Beeching:  The  skill  that  [the  old  poets]  lacked  was 
not  the  skill  to  sing,  but  to  fill  out  the  ideal  from  the  "figures"  of  their  own 
day.  Their  eyes  were  only  "divining  eyes,"  but  they  sang  up  to  the  full  limit 
of  their  vision;  we  moderns,  on  the  contrary,  who  see  the  ideal  beauty,  lack 
tongue  to  sing  it.  If  we  read  "still,"  there  is  no  noun  for  "enough"  to  refer  to. 

[It  may  be  of  interest  to  compare  the  "When  .  .  .  then"  structure  of  this 
sonnet  with  the  similar  form  of  2,  12,  15,  and  30.  —  Ed.] 
•    [Walsh  puts  the  sonnet  with  59,  another  study  of  the  same  theme.] 


244  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cvn 

107 

Not  mine  owne  feares,  nor  the  prophetick  soule, 
Of  the  wide  world,  dreaming  on  things  to  come, 
Can  yet  the  lease  of  my  true  loue  controule, 
Supposde  as  forfeit  to  a  confin'd  doome. 
The  mortall  Moone  hath  her  eclipse  indur'de,  5 

And  the  sad  Augurs  mock  their  owne  presage, 
Incertenties  now  crowne  them-selues  assur'de, 
And  peace  proclaimes  Oliues  of  endlesse  age, 
Now  with  the  drops  of  this  most  balmie  time,  9 

My  loue  lookes  fresh,  and  death  to  me  subscribes, 
Since  spight  of  him  He  Hue  in  this  poore  rime, 
While  he  insults  ore  dull  and  speachlesse  tribes. 
And  thou  in  this  shalt  finde  thy  monument, 
When  tyrants  crests  and  tombs  of  brasse  are  spent. 

3.  my]  thy  E. 

8.  Oliues]  a  lease  Godwin  conj. 
11.  lie]  thou1  It  Stengel  conj.        rime]  time  L. 
13.  shalt]  shall  Wa. 

[This  sonnet  is  of  chief  interest  because  of  the  suggestion  it  gives  of  allusion 
to  external  events,  which  has  led  to  widely  divergent  conjectures  respecting 
the  date  of  composition.  It  seems  to  have  been  one  "J.  G.  R.,"  a  correspondent 
of  N.  &  Q.,  (2d  s.,  7:  125;  Feb.  12,  1859),  who  unwittingly  opened  the  long 
discussion.  He  interprets  the  sonnet  as  referring  to  Southampton's  imprison- 
ment, the  death  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  the  accession  of  James,  —  the  theory 
which  still  seems  to  claim  the  majority  of  adherents.  Massey  develops  this 
at  length:]  Sh.  thus  addresses  Southampton  upon  his  release  from  the  Towert 
at  the  time  of  the  Queen's  death  in  1603.  (p.  203.)  In  his  Essays  Bacon  tells 
us,  "It  was  generally  believed  that  after  the  death  of  Elizabeth  England 
should  come  to  utter  confusion."  (Works,  1856,  i,  291.)  Elizabeth  herself 
prognosticated  that  her  death  would  be  followed  by  the  overthrow  of  the 
Protestant  religion  and  ruin  of  the  realm.  As  Froude  says,  "Sometimes  in 
mockery  she  would  tell  the  Council  that  she  would  come  back  after  her  death 
and  see  the  Queen  of  Scots  making  their  heads  fly!"  .  .  .  [Cf.  also  the  dedica- 
tory epistle  of  the  Authorized  Version:]  "  For  whereas  it  was  the  expectation  of 
many,  who  wished  not  well  to  our  Sion,  that  upon  the  setting  of  that  bright 
occidental  star,  Queen  Elizabeth,  of  most  happy  memory,  some  thick  and  pal- 


evil]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  245 

pable  clouds  of  darkness  would  so  have  overshadowed  the  land,  that  men 
should  have  been  in  doubt  which  way  they  were  to  walk,  and  that  it  should 
hardly  be  known  who  was  to  direct  the  unsettled  State;  the  appearance  of  your 
Majesty,  as  of  the  sun  in  its  strength,  instantly  dispelled  those  supposed  and 
surmised  mists,  and  gave  unto  all  that  were  well  affected  exceeding  cause  of 
comfort ;  especially  when  we  beheld  the  Government  established  in  your  High- 
ness and  your  hopeful  seed  by  an  undoubted  Title,  and  this  also  accompanied 
with  peace  and  tranquillity  at  home  and  abroad."  ...  It  is  impossible  to  have 
any  reasonable  doubt  that  the  same  spirit  pervades  [this  dedication  and  S.  107;] 
that  the  same  death  is  recorded;  the  same  fears  are  alluded  to;  the  same  exul- 
tation is  expressed;  the  same  peace  identified,  (pp.  215-16.)  .  .  .  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  sonnet  chronicles  a  death,  and  hints  at  burial  in  a  tyrant's 
tomb.  .  .  .  [The  Queen's]  death  is  a  subject  of  rejoicing  to  Sh.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  say  that  he  rejoiced  personally,  but  he  does  so  dramatically,  (p.  218.) 
.  .  .  Chamberlain,  writing  to  Dudley  Carleton,  April,  1603,  says,  "The  10th 
of  this  month  the  Earl  of  Southampton  was  delivered  out  of  the  Tower  by  war- 
rant from  the  King,"  sent  by  Lord  Kinloss  —  "These  bountiful  beginnings 
raise  all  men's  spirits,  and  put  them  in  great  hopes."  (p.  334.)  Isaac,  [taking 
the  sonnet  to  be  addressed  to  Essex,  interprets  it  as  of  the  year  1598:]  In  this 
year  .  .  .  the  intimate  relations  between  Elizabeth  and  her  favorite  suffered  an 
apparently  incurable  breach  through  the  box  on  the  ear  which  the  latter  re- 
ceived during  a  session  of  the  Privy  Council.  Essex  in  resentment  kept  himself 
for  some  months  away  from  the  court,  and  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  his 
friends  made  not  the  slightest  attempt  at  a  reconciliation.  .  .  .  Finally  on  the 
15th  of  September  he  appeared  for  the  first  time  again  at  court,  and  on  the  3rd 
of  October  stood  again  in  the  old  favor  with  the  Queen.  (Devereux:  Lives  of 
the  Earls  of  Essex.)  This  reconciliation  must  have  filled  all  the  friends  of  the 
Earl  with  great  joy,  and  could  also  have  occasioned  the  writing  of  this  beautiful 
sonnet  by  the  poet  who  had  been  oppressed  by  the  worst  anxieties.  A  further 
reference,  however,  than  to  this  merely  private  dissension  of  the  Queen  and 
her  favorite  [seems  to  be  indicated  by  line  8.]  .  .  .  On  the  13th  of  September 
the  irreconcilable  enemy  of  England,  Philip  II  of  Spain,  had  died;  this  event 
Sh.  could  represent  with  good  ground  as  the  beginning  of  an  era  of  peace.  .  .  . 
[Still  another  possibility  is  a  reference  to  the  death  of  Essex's  most  powerful 
enemy,  Lord  Burleigh,  in  the  same  year.]  (Jahrb.,  19:  263-64.)  Tyler  [makes 
the  sonnet  refer  to  the  putting  down  of  the  rebellion  of  Essex,  1601,]  an  event 
which,  it  is  not  difficult  to  see,  might  be  spoken  of  as  a  threatening  eclipse,  and 
from  which  the  Queen  might  be  represented  as  having  come  forth  with  her 
glory  undimmed.  .  .  .  Within  a  week  of  the  abortive  attempt  of  Essex  to  call 
out  the  citizens  of  London,  Secretary  Cecil,  according  to  a  document?  in  the 
Record  Office,  delivered  himself  to  the  following  effect:  "As  the  declining  of 
the  Sun  bringes  generall  darkness,  so  her  Majesties  hurt  is  our  continuall  night; 
and  although  the  one  by  course  of  Nature  may  be  renewed,  yet  the  other  will 
hardly  be  matched  in  any  future  age;  how  odious  then  ought  they  to  be  in  the 
eye  of  all  good  subjects  that  have  sought  the  utter  ruine  of  so  blessed  a  sover- 


246  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cvn 

aine."  (State  Papers,  Domestic,  Elizabeth,  cclxxviii.)  What  Sh.  says  about 
the  "eclipse  of  the  mortal  moon"  may  be  advantageously  compared  also  with 
the  following  extract  from  a  letter  of  Bacon's  written  to  the  Queen  prior  to 
the  rebellion:  "The  devices  of  some  that  would  put  out  all  your  Majesty's 
lights,  and  fall  on  reckoning  how  many  years  you  have  reigned,  which  I  beseech 
our  blessed  Saviour  may  be  doubled,  and  that  I  may  never  live  to  see  any 
eclipse  of  your  glory"  (Spedding's  Bacon,  9:  160).  There  can  thus  be  no  doubt 
that  the  language  of  the  sonnet  would  be  entirely  in  accordance  with  the  usage 
of  the  time.  [Line  6]  is  a  description  which,  we  may  well  believe,  would,  after 
the  affair  of  Sunday,  February  8,  1601,  aptly  describe  the  feelings  of  those  who 
had  predicted  the  success  of  Essex.  And  then  in  [lines  7-8]  we  may  find,  with 
probability,  an  allusion  to  the  embassy  sent  by  James,  the  Scotch  king,  to 
congratulate  the  Queen  on  putting  down  the  rebellion.  The  "  incertainties " 
may  refer  to  the  previously  doubtful  attitude  of  James.  .  .  .  Further,  the  words 
of  the  9th  line  .  .  .  contain,  as  seems  likely,  an  allusion  to  the  season  of  the 
year  when  the  sonnet  was  written,  probably  the  spring  or  early  summer  of  1601. 
(Intro.,  pp.  23-24.)  Lee:  [This  sonnet]  makes  references  that  cannot  be  mis- 
taken to  three  events  that  took  place  in  1603  —  to  Queen  Elizabeth's  death, 
to  the  accession  of  James  I,  and  to  the  release  of  the  Earl  of  Southampton,  who 
had  been  in  prison  since  he  was  convicted  in  1601  of  complicity  in  the  rebellion 
of  the  Earl  of  Essex.  ...  It  is  in  almost  identical  phrase  that  every  pen  in  the 
spring  of  1603  was  felicitating  the  nation  on  the  unexpected  turn  of  events,  by 
which  Elizabeth's  crown  had  passed,  without  civil  war,  to  the  Scottish  King, 
and  thus  the  revolution  that  had  been  foretold  as  the  inevitable  consequence 
of  Elizabeth's  demise  was  happily  averted.  Cynthia  (i.e.,  the  moon)  was  the 
Queen's  recognised  poetic  appellation.  It  is  thus  that  she  figures  in  the  verse 
of  Barnfield,  Spenser,  Fulke  Greville,  and  Ralegh,  and  her  elegists  involun- 
tarily followed  the  same  fashion.  "Fair  Cynthia's  dead"  sang  one.  "Luna's 
extinct,"  .  .  .  wrote  Henry  Petowe,  in  his  "A  Fewe  Aprill  Drops  Showered  on 
the  Hearse  of  Dead  Eliza,"  1603.  There  was  hardly  a  verse- writer  who  mourned 
her  loss  that  did  not  typify  it,  moreover,  as  the  eclipse  of  a  heavenly  body.  One 
poet  asserted  that  death  "veiled  her  glory  in  a  cloud  of  night."  Another 
argued:  "Naught  can  eclipse  her  light,  but  that  her  star  will  shine  in  darkest 
night."  A  third  varied  the  formula  thus: 

When  winter  had  cast  off  her  weed 
Our  sun  eclipsed  did  set.  Oh !  light  most  fair. 

(These  quotations  are  from  Sorrowes  Joy,  a  collection  of  elegies  on  Queen 
Elizabeth  by  Cambridge  writers  (Cambridge,  1603),  and  from  Chettle's  Eng- 
land's Mourning  Garment  (London,  1603).)  At  the  same  time  James  was  con- 
stantly said  to  have  entered  on  his  inheritance  "not  with  an  olive  branch  in 
his  hand,  but  with  a  whole  forest  of  olives  round  about  him,  for  he  brought  not 
peace  to  this  kingdom  alone"  but  to  all  Europe.  (Gervase  Markham's  Honour 
in  her  Perfection,  1624.)  [Line  9]  is  an  echo  of  another  current  strain  of  fancy. 
James  came  to  England  in  a  springtide  of  rarely  rivalled  clemency,  which  was 


evil]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  247 

reckoned  of  the  happiest  augury.  "All  things  look  fresh,"  one  poet  sang,  "to 
greet  his  excellence."  "The  air,  the  seasons,  and  the  earth"  were  represented 
as  in  sympathy  with  the  general  joy  in  "this  sweetest  of  all  sweet  springs." 
One  source  of  grief  alone  was  acknowledged:  Southampton  was  still  a  prisoner 
in  the  Tower,  "supposed  as  forfeit  to  a  confined  doom."  All  men,  wrote 
Manningham,  the  diarist,  on  the  day  following  the  Queen's  death,  wished  him 
at  liberty.  The  wish  was  fulfilled  quickly.  .  .  .  Samuel  Daniel  and  John  Davies 
celebrated  Southampton's  release  in  buoyant  verse.  It  is  improbable  that  Sh. 
remained  silent.  {Life,  pp.  147-49.)  Wyndham  [places  less  stress  on  allusions 
to  contemporary  events:]  This  sonnet  is  ...  a  limb  of  the  sustained  attack  on 
Time  (100-125),  which  culminates  in  a  denial  of  its  reality  (123-124.)  The 
sense  seems  to  be:  "Not  mine  own  fears  (expressed  in  104),  nor  the  whole 
world's  prophetic  expectation  of  things  to  come,  .  .  .  can  limit  the  continuation 
of  my  love,  which,  in  common  with  all  things,  seems,  but  only  seems,  subject 
to  limitation."  ...  It  suffices  for  the  sense  [of  lines  5-8]  that  they  do  point  to 
some  crisis,  in  nature  or  politics,  which  excited  an  apprehension  not  justified 
by  the  event.  ...  I  am  disposed  to  think  [that  the  reference  is  to]  an  actual 
eclipse  of  the  moon,  which  had  been  made  the  ground  for  gloomy  prognostica- 
tions. When  contemporary  poets  allude  to  political  crises  they  make  their 
reference  explicit.   Drayton,  e.g.,  in  Idea,  51,  .  .  .  has  — 

Lastly,  mine  eyes  amazedly  have  seen 

Essex's  great  fall!  Tyrone  his  peace  to  gain! 

The  quiet  end  of  that  long  living  Queen! 

This  King's  fair  entrance!  and  our  peace  with  Spain!     • 

Sh.  in  the  Sonnets  has  no  such  explicit  references,  and  his  phrase,  "the  mortal 
moon,"  if  it  mean  "the  moon  in  deadly  case,"  is  quite  in  his  manner  of  describ- 
ing a  natural  phenomenon  such  as  an  eclipse.  There  were  21  eclipses  of  the 
moon,  total  or  partial,  visible  at  Greenwich  during  the  years  1592-1609.  So 
that  the  champions  of  an  early  date  for  the  Sonnets  may  find  their  affair  in  this 
matter  as  readily  as  the  champions  of  a  late  date.  But  if  we  accept  Tyler's 
suggestion  that  the  reference  to  "this  most  balmy  time"  proves  that  the  sonnet 
was  written  in  late  spring,  summer,  or  early  autumn,  and  if  my  suggestion  for 
the  dating  of  S.  98  be  also  accepted,  then,  of  such  eclipses,  three  remain  avail- 
able: [June  4,  1602;  May  24,  1603;  Apr.  3,  1605.]  The  eclipse  of  May  24,  1603, 
since  it  lasted  much  longer  than  the  eclipse  of  April  3,  1605,  and  since,  owing 
to  its  hour  [11.30  p.m.]  and  the  time  of  the  year,  it  must  have  been  more  notice- 
able than  the  eclipse  of  June  4,  1602,  may,  perhaps,  be  given  the  pride  of  place. 
Its  acceptance  also  admits  of  one  of  those  secondary  allusions  —  in  this  case 
to  the  death  of  Elizabeth,  March  23,  1603  —  which  are  so  common  in  Sh.'s 
verse.  I  ought  to  add  that  Mr.  Heath  and  Mr.  Blaikie  agree  in  thinking  that 
I  have  not  given  sufficient  weight  to  the  eclipse  of  1605.  (pp.  246-47.)  Butler: 
Is  there  any  event,  except  the  Armada,  that  occurred  during  Sh.'s  youth,  to 
which  [the  picture  of  suspense  sketched  in  this  sonnet]  will  apply  with  anything 
like  the  same  force  and  accuracy?   I  may  even  go  further,  and  ask  whether 


248  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cvn 

there  is  any  event  between  1585  and  1609,  to  which  the  sonnet  can  apply  with- 
out both  doing  violence  to  the  most  natural  meaning  of  its  words,  and  arbi- 
trarily dating  it  many  years  later  than  the  other  sonnets?  We  can  see  how 
great  a  scare  had  been  caused  by  the  Armada  from  the  thanksgiving  prayer 
that  was  read  in  all  churches  after  it  had  been  defeated.  .  .  .  The  enemy  had 
intended  "to  destroy  us,  our  cities,  towns,  countries  and  peoples,  and  utterly 
to  root  out  the  memory  of  our  nation  from  off  the  earth  for  ever."  ...  If  this 
is  a  true  picture  Sh.  might  well  sketch  the  general  apprehension  in  such  a  tell- 
ing touch  as  "the  prophetic  soul  of  the  wide  world  dreaming  on  things  to 
come,"  and  might  well  suppose  that  the  lease  of  his  true  love  for  Mr.  W.  H. 
was  to  expire  very  shortly.  But  as  there  is  no  other  such  sketch,  so  neither  is 
any  such  picture  to  be  found,  in  prayer  nor  elsewhere,  of  any  event  between 
1585  and  1609.  [As  to  Lee's  claim  that  similar  alarm  was  felt  regarding  the 
death  of  the  Queen,]  he  has  not  quoted,  nor  have  I  been  able  to  find,  anything 
written  before  the  accession  of  James,  which  suggests  any  such  grave  alarm 
as  was  felt  all  over  England  when  the  Armada  was  off  Plymouth,  or  in  sight  of 
Dover,  (pp.  104,  106.)  Creighton  [supports  Tyler's  view:]  There  had  been  a 
notable  eclipse  the  year  before  [the  Essex  rebellion],  on  which  Woodhouse's 
Almanack  for  1601  based  a  prognostication  that  its  influence  would  be  felt  in 
the  state  from  20th  Jan.  1601  until  November.  When  the  rebellion  of  Essex 
took  place,  the  populace  were  so  impressed  by  Woodhouse's  prophecy  that  the 
Government  thought  it  necessary  to  call  in  the  copies  of  the  paltry  book. 
There  was  no  other  event  in  Elizabeth's  reign  which  threatened  her  in  the  same 
way.  .  .  .  Sh.'s  "own  fears,"  for  his  liberty  "supposed  as  forfeit  to  a  confined 
doom,"  are  explained  by  [the  performance  of  Richard  II  on  the  Thursday  or 
Friday  before.]  (Blackwood's,  169:  676.)  Beeching  [accepts  the  view  that 
there  is  a  reference  to  the  death  of  the  Queen,  but  disbelieves  Lee's  view  as  to 
the  matter  of  Southampton's  release:]  If  this  sonnet  were  really  an  ode  of 
congratulation  under  such  circumstances,  Southampton  in  turn  could  hardly 
have  congratulated  the  poet  on  the  fervour  of  his  feelings.  For  there  is  no 
reference  in  the  sonnet  to  any  release  from  prison,  and  its  crowning  thought  is 
the  familiar  one,  that  the  friend  will  survive  in  Sh.'s  verse,  not  that  he  has 
obtained  a  new  and  unexpected  resurrection  to  life.  [Lee's  paraphrase  of  the 
opening  quatrain  is  one  it  will  not  bear.]  The  words  "my  true  love"  might 
certainly  by  themselves  be  taken,  as  Mr.  Lee  takes  them,  to  mean  "my  true 
friend,"  but  "the  lease  of  my  true  love"  can  only  mean  "the  lease  of  my  true 
affection  for  my  friend."  All  leases  are  for  a  term  of  years;  each  has  a  limit  or 
"confine"  assigned  to  it,  on  which  day  of  doom  it  expires.  Sh.  says  that  neither 
his  own  fears  nor  the  world's  prophecies  of  disastrous  changes  have  justified 
themselves,  for  in  the  year  of  grace  1603  he  finds  his  affection  fresher  than  ever. 
But  to  the  friends  of  Southampton  the  death  of  Elizabeth  would  have  been  an 
occasion  not  of  foreboding  but  of  hope.  (Intro.,  pp.  xxxiii-iv.)  .  .  .  The  fears 
and  prophecies  of  line  1  must  be  interpreted  by  what  follows  as  fears  and 
auguries  of  some  anticipated  future  which  would  be  the  doom  of  the  poet's 
love.   In  the  first  quatrain  the  fears  are  stated  in  the  most  general  terms  as 


cvii]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  249 

fears  for  the  future;  but  the  second  quatrain  connects  them  with  some  particu- 
lar crisis,  which  came  without  bringing  the  expected  catastrophe.  Instead  of 
that  it  brought  a  happier  era.  Apparently  the  crisis  feared  was  a  civil  war  in 
which  the  arts  would  perish,  since  "peace"  is  referred  to  as  its  opposite;  and 
the  immediate  result  anticipated  by  the  poet  is  the  survival  of  his  poems. 
[Rolfe  is  disposed  to  favor  the  theory  of  the  Essex  rebellion,  which  is  also 
accepted  by  Brandes  (William  Sh.,  1:  319).  On  the  other  hand,  Mackail 
(Led.  on  Poetry,  p.  185)  and  Brandl  (p.  xx)  follow  the  interpretation  of  Lee; 
the  latter  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  Henry  V  Sh.  showed  an  eagerness 
for  the  union  of  Scotland  with  England,  and  finding  here  further  evidence  of  his 
zeal  for  a  "greater  Britain."  H.  Pemberton  (New  Shakespeareana,  7:  105) 
supports  the  theory  favoring  1601,  believing  that  the  "sad  augurs"  refer  (as 
does  Haml.,  I,  i,  121-25)  to  the  early  winter  of  that  year,  when,  between 
November  29  and  Christmas,  there  were  notable  storms,  an  earthquake,  and 
eclipses  of  both  moon  and  sun.  But  these  major  theories  do  not  exhaust  the 
possibilities.  Palgrave  supposes  that  the  sonnet  refers  to  the  peace  of  1609, 
which  ended  the  war  between  Spain  and  the  United  Provinces;  Fleay  (Biog. 
Chron.,  2:  211)  that  it  "can  hardly  be  made  to  fit  with  any  date  but  that  of 
the  Peace  of  Vervins,"  April  1598,  a  view  followed  by  Gollancz  (Intro., 
p.  xix),  who  emphasizes 'the  "  incertainties "  which  England  had  suffered  dur- 
ing the  time  she  was  aiding  Henry  IV;  and  Mrs.  Stopes  finds  evidence  of  the 
year  1596,  when  the  Queen  was  restored  to  health  after  a  period  of  indispo- 
sition which  had  caused  grave  anxiety,  and  when  the  league  with  Henry  IV 
may  have  suggested  the  olives  of  peace.] 

On  the  other  hand,  a  few  commentators  suspect  all  these  interpretations 
relating  to  contemporary  events.  Simpson  :  The  sonnet  fits  into  its  place  much 
better  when  .  .  .  interpreted,  not  of  special  facts,  but  of  the  general  circum- 
stances of  love.  Not  his  own  fears  (of  death  ending  all  love)  nor  the  "divining 
eyes"  of  the  old  poets  mentioned  in  S.  106,  .  .  .  can  set  a  definite  term  to  his 
love,  which  had  been  supposed  to  be  doomed  to  come  to  an  end.  (p.  79.) 
Dowden  [agrees  with  this,  interpreting:]  "Not  my  own  fears  (that  my  friend's 
beauty  may  be  on  the  wane,  104,  9-14),  nor  the  prophetic  soul  of  the  world, 
prophesying  in  the  persons  of  dead  knights  and  ladies  your  perfections  (S.  106), 
and  so  prefiguring  your  death  (or,  possibly,  divining  other  future  perfections 
higher  than  yours),  can  confine  my  lease  of  love  to  a  brief  term  of  years.  Dark- 
ness and  fears  are  past,  the  augurs  of  ill  find  their  predictions  falsified,  doubts 
are  over,  peace  has  come  in  place  of  strife;  the  love  in  my  heart  is  fresh  and 
young  (see  108,  9),  and  I  have  conquered  Death,  for  in  this  verse  we  both  shall 
find  life  in  the  memories  of  men."  Luce:  [There  is  no  need  to  look  for  historic 
allusions;  the  lines  may  mean:]  "I  myself  feared  that  love  could  not  last;  and 
such  was  the  doubting  or  the  sneering  forecast  of  my  friends;  but  neither  I  nor 
they  knew  the  abiding  power  of  love;  the  love  which  we  doomed  to  death  has 
suffered  only  a  short  eclipse,  and  the  dismal  augurs  have  put  themselves  to 
shame."   (Handbook,  p.  93.) 


250  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cvn 

i.  prophetick  soule.  Steevens:  Cf.  Hatnl.,  I,  v,  40:  "Oh,  my  prophetic 
soul!" 

1-2.  Tyler:  With  this  passage,  which  is  very  important  in  relation  to  Sh.'s 
theology,  cf.  R.  3,  II,  iii,  41-44: 

Before  the  days  of  change,  still  is  it  so. 
By  a  divine  instinct  men's  minds  mistrust 
Ensuing  danger;  as,  by  proof,  we  see 
The  water  swell  before  a  boisterous  storm. 

Brierre  de  Boismont  says,  in  his  work  Des  Hallucinations,  ed.  1862,  p.  43:  "II 
existe  dans  les  masses  populaires  un  instinct  politique  qui  leur  fait  pressentir 
les  catastrophes  des  societes,  comme  un  instinct  naturel  anno  nee  d'avance  aux 
animaux  l'approche  des  bouleversements  physiques."  .  .  .  [The  doctrine  of  the 
anima  mundi,  the  soul  of  the  world,  was]  prominent  in  the  teaching  of  Giordano 
Bruno,  who  suffered  martyrdom  in  the  year  1600,  that  is,  a  little  before  S.  107 
was  written.  Moreover,  Bruno  had  been  in  England  between  1583  and  1585, 
and  had  come  into  contact  with  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  William  Herbert's  uncle,  so 
that  an  allusion  to  Bruno's  doctrine  is  in  no  way  unaccountable.  (In  the  Jahrb., 
II:  91,  there  is  an  article  by  W.  Konig  on  "Sh.  and  Giordano  Bruno."  The 
writer  of  this  article,  after  adducing  various  instances  in  Sh.  of  analogy  with 
Bruno's  doctrines  of  greater  or  less  probability,  strangely  denies  that  there  is 
any  point  of  connection  between  Sh.  and  Bruno's  doctrine  of  an  all-pervading 
world-soul:  "His  belief  soon  manifests  itself  in  a  certain  divine  intoxication 
[  Gotttrunkenheit],  and  a  kind  of  pantheism,  where  he  assumes  an  all-penetrating 
World-Soul.  In  this  whole  region  there  does  not  appear  in  Sh.  the  slightest 
connection  with  Bruno."  Had  the  writer  of  this  article  never  read  S.  107?) 
There  is  also  another  contemporary  of  Sh.  who  should  here  be  mentioned, 
Tommaso  Campanella,  who  entertained  opinions  similar  to  those  of  Bruno  with 
regard  to  the  world  as  an  animated  being.  [See  his  sonnet  on  "The  World  as 
an  Animal,"  translated  by  J.  A.  Symonds.]  (Intro.,  p.  107.)  [Mrs.  Stopes  also 
emphasizes  the  connection  between  this  passage  and  the  philosophy  of  Bruno; 
and,  in  Sh.'s  Warwickshire  Contemporaries  (1907),  p.  9,  suggests  a  link  between 
Sh.  and  Bruno's  writings  in  the  printer  Richard  Field,  originally  of  Stratford- 
on-Avon,  who  was  for  a  time  in  the  shop  of  Vautrollier,  Bruno's  English  pub- 
lisher. "  In  Vautrollier's  shop  the  sayings  of  Bruno  would  acquire  tragic  interest 
at  his  death  for  a  philosophic  faith."  See  also  Elton's  essay  on  "  Giordano 
Bruno  in  England,"  where  the  influence  of  Bruno  on  Sh.  is  denied.  (Modern 
Studies,  pp.  26-27.)] 

2.  Beeching:  The  prophecy  of  things  to  come  must  probably  be  taken,  with 
Wyndham,  "as  implying  that  they  are  to  come  in  place  of  the  things  that  are." 
Only,  as  Sh.  always  uses  "prophetic"  in  a  true  sense,  I  should  rather  say  the 
implication  is  that  the  "things  to  come"  usually  come  in  place  of  things  that 
are.   It  is  this  usual  implication  that  the  poet  denies. 

[On  lines  3-4  see  the  notes  above,  introductory  to  the  sonnet.] 

5.  eclipse  indur'de.    See  also  the  notes  above,  where  it  appears  that  this 


evil]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  251 

phrase  is  important  in  connection  with  the  supposed  allusion  to  the  death  of 
Elizabeth.  Massey:  This  luminary  shone  in  the  human  or  mortal  sphere  — 
was  subject  to  mortality.  Just  in  the  same  vein,  he  calls  the  eyes  of  Lucrece 
"mortal  stars";  Valeria,  in  Coriolanus,  is  called  the  "moon  of  Rome";  and 
Cleopatra  is  spoken  of  by  Antony  as  our  "terrene  moon."  The  Queen  was  the 
earthly  or  mortal  moon.  (p.  215.)  Dowden:  Cf.  A.  &  C,  III,  xiii,  153:  "Alack, 
our  terrene  moon  is  now  eclipsed."  But  an  earlier  reference  to  a  moon-eclipse 
(35>  3)  nas  to  do  with  his  friend,  not  with  Elizabeth,  and  in  the  present  sonnet 
the  moon  is  imagined  as  having  endured  her  eclipse,  and  come  out  none  the 
less  bright.  Tyler:  It  may  be  readily  conceded  that  "the  mortal  moon"  is 
in  all  probability  a  poetical  designation  of  the  Queen.  She  was,  according  to 
Elizabethan  poets,  Cynthia,  goddess  of  the  shining  orb.  But  to  suppose  an 
allusion  to  her  death  seems  altogether  out  of  harmony  with  the  drift  and  scope 
of  the  sonnet.  Notwithstanding  fears  and  forebodings,  the  poet's  love  for  his 
friend  shall  not  be  "forfeit  to  a  confin'd  doom,"  but  shall  ever  endure.  In  line  5 
the  emphasis  is  obviously  on  the  word  "endur'd."  (Intro.,  p.  23.)  Butler: 
To  me  the  sonnet  suggests  that  [the  Queen]  not  only  was  not  dead,  but  had 
emerged  from  a  time  of  apparent  peril  with  splendour  all  undimmed.  (p.  105.) 
Beeching,  [recalling  Lee's  statement  that  the  writers  of  the  time  typified  the 
Queen's  death  as  the  eclipse  of  a  heavenly  body,  says:]  This  interpretation  is 
confirmed  by  the  passage  in  A.  &  C.  ...  An  examination  of  passages  will 
show  that  an  eclipse  in  Sh.'s  metaphorical  use  means  a  final,  not  a  temporary, 
extinction.  [See,  besides  the  A.  &  C.  passage,  1  H.  6,  IV,  v,  53:  "Born  to 
eclipse  thy  life  this  afternoon."]  It  is  not  easy  to  see  by  what  other  metaphor 
the  death  of  a  "  moon  "  could  be  described.  [I  do  not  see  that  it  is  possible  to  be 
dogmatic  about  the  meaning  of  this  passage.  The  impression  it  produces  on 
me  is  the  same  as  on  Dowden  and  Tyler,  viz.,  that  the  eclipse  has  been  passed 
through;  but  it  must  be  admitted  that  there  is  ample  parallel  in  Sh.  for  the  use 
of  "endure"  in  the  sense  merely  "to  suffer";  e.g.,  R.  2,  V,  v,  30: 

Bearing  their  own  misfortunes  on  the  back 
Of  such  as  have  before  endur'd  the  like: 

and  Lear,  III,  vii,  60:  "Such  a  storm  as  his  bare  head  in  hell-black  night 
endur'd."  In  other  words,  without  knowing  who  or  what  the  "mortal  moon" 
is,  we  cannot  say  whether  the  thought  is,  "She  has  passed  through  her  eclipse, 
and  therefore  the  augurs  laugh  at  their  warnings,"  or,  "She  has  suffered  eclipse, 
and  in  spite  of  this  the  augurs  laugh."  But  a  priori,  the  former  seems  more 
natural.  —  Ed.] 

10.  My  love.  Dowden:  I  am  not  sure  whether  this  means  "the  love  in  my 
heart,"  or  "my  love,"  my  friend.  Cf.  104,  8  and  108,  9.  Rolfe:  The  former 
seems  the  more  probable.  Beeching:  My  affection,  subscribes.  M alone: 
Acknowledges  as  a  superior. 

13-14.  Cf.  55,  1-2.   [Walsh  places  S.  55  immediately  after  107.] 
14.  Beeching:  Not  improbably  a  veiled  reference  to  the  monument  that 
would  be  erected  to  the  queen. 


252  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cvm 

Massey:  [This]  I  take  to  be  the  last  of  the  Southampton  sonnets,  as  they 
have  come  to  us.  Sh.'s  warfare  with  Time  and  Fortune  on  his  friend's  behalf 
is  ended;  the  victory  is  won,  he  has  found  peace  at  last.  There  is  a  final 
farewell  touch  in  the  concluding  iteration  of  the  immortality  so  often  promised. 
(p.  219.) 

Price  [finds  this  sonnet  to  show  the  largest  percentage  of  foreign  diction;  it 
is  of  the  class]  in  which  the  movement  of  imagination  is  most  impeded,  the 
charm  of  poetry  least  felt.   [Cf.,  in  this  respect,  S.  125.]   (p.  365.) 

In  the  Dobell  MS.  described  at  the  end  of  S.  2,  —  the  same  containing  the 
pseudo-sonnet  headed  "Cruel"  —  is  a  copy  of  S.  107.  The  only  variant  read- 
ings are  in  lines  12  and  14,  which  read  as  follows: 

Whilst  he  Insults  ore  dul  &  sencelesse  tribes  .  .  . 
When  tombs  of  brasse  &  tyrants  crests  are  spent. 


108 

What  's  in  the  braine  that  Inck  may  character, 

Which  hath  not  figur'd  to  thee  my  true  spirit, 

What  *s  new  to  speake,  what  now  to  register, 

That  may  expresse  my  loue,  or  thy  deare  merit? 

Nothing  sweet  boy,  but  yet  like  prayers  diuine,  5 

I  must  each  day  say  ore  the  very  same, 

Counting  no  old  thing  old,  thou  mine,  I  thine, 

Euen  as  when  first  I  hallowed  thy  faire  name. 

So  that  eternall  loue  in  loues  fresh  case,  9 

Waighes  not  the  dust  and  iniury  of  age, 

Nor  giues  to  necessary  wrinckles  place, 

But  makes  antiquitie  for  aye  his  page, 

Finding  the  first  conceit  of  loue  there  bred, 
*       Where  time  and  outward  forme  would  shew  it  dead, 

2.  spirit,]  spirit?  G,  etc. 

3.  new  —  now]  new  .  .  .  new  M,  Kt,  Del,  Dy,  Sta,  Gl,  Wh,  Cam,  Do,  Hu2, 
R,  Ox,  But,  Her,  Be,  N,  Bull;  now  .  .  .  now  Walker  conf.,  Co3. 

5.  sweet  boy]  sweet-love  1640;  sweet  love  G,  S,  E. 
8.  Euen]  E'en  S,  E. 
10.  iniury]  injuries  1640,  G,  S,  E. 

3.  now  to  register.  M alone:  The  Q  here  is  manifestly  erroneous.  Boswell: 
Why  manifestly  erroneous?  "What  can  I  say  now  more  than  I  have  said  al- 
ready in  your  praise?"   Tyler:  Possibly  a  misprint  for  "new."   Wyndham: 


cviii]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  253 

There  are  two  ideas:  (1)  What  new  thing  can  be  said,  which  has  not  been  said; 
(2)  What  can  be  said  now,  to-day,  when  I  am  taking  up  my  pen  again.  [The 
textual  notes  show  that  the  great  body  of  editors,  though  disdaining  to  discuss 
the  matter,  agree  with  Malone.  —  Ed.] 

5.  sweet  boy.  [By  no  means  an  unique  expression  in  Elizabethan  literature. 
Cf.,  for  example,  as  Mr.  Horace  Davis  notes,  Lyly's  Midas,  I,  i,  "My  sweet 
boy,  all  is  gold,"  addressed  to  Mellacrites,  "a  gentleman  of  the  court";  and 
Greene's  similar  address,  either  to  Lodge  or  Nash,  in  A  Groatsworth  of  Wit  (see 
Works  of  Greene  and  Peele,  ed.  Dyce,  Intro.,  p.  60.)] 

7-8.  Wyndham:  Cf.  102,  5-6.  This  was  some  three  years  earlier  (104),  and 
even  then  the  poet  had  touched  this  theme  tentatively:  then,  as  now,  given 
the  identity  of  himself  with  his  friend,  "Thou  mine,  I  thine,"  he  counted  "no 
old  thing  old"  [cf.  62,  13-14].  The  primary  sense  begins  at  this  point  to  be 
doubled  by  a  larger  philosophic  sense.  The  obvious  meaning  —  that  neither 
the  poet's  "songs  and  praises,"  though  "all  alike"  (105),  nor  the  beauty  of  the 
friend,  though  it  "  steals  away,"  can  ever  be  old  (104)  —  is  stated  in  terms  so 
wide  as  to  embrace  a  mystical  suggestion  that  this,  which  is  true  of  the  friend's 
beauty  and  of  the  poet's  devotion,  is  also  true  universally.  .  .  .  This  sonnet  is 
an  integral  part  of  the  whole  "satire  to  decay"  (100-125),  the  machinery  of 
which  consists  in  a  retrospect  over  the  inward  moods  and  outward  chances  that 
have  befallen  to  the  poet  and  the  friend  during  three  years.  But  these  actual 
experiences  serve  for  texts  to  an  esoteric  doctrine  which  affirms  the  eternity  of 
Love  and  denies  the  reality  of  Time. 

8.  [Neil  (Ath.,  Apr.  27,  1867,  p.  552)  finds  here  a  suggestion  that  this  sonnet 
was  addressed  to  the  poet's  son  Hamnet;  in  which  he  is  followed  by  Goedeke 
(Rundschau,  10:  407).  If  this  be  ingenious,  it  pales  before  the  suggestion  of 
Mrs.  Stopes  that  the  word  "hallowed"  alludes  to  the  first  time  the  friend  was 
addressed  as  "Hal,"  or  that  of  W.  Underhill  ( N.  &Q.,  7th  s.,  9:  227),  who 
regards  it  as  a  pun  on  the  name  of  a  supposed  W.  Hall.  The  use  of  the  word 
is  due,  of  course,  to  the  figure  of  the  liturgy  in  lines  6-7.  "Every  morning 
since  I  began  to  worship  you  I  have  continued  to  say,  'Hallowed  be  thy 
name.'"  —  Ed.] 

9.  case.  Malone:  By  the  case  of  love  the  poet  means  his  own  compositions. 
Schmidt:  Cause.  Dowden:  Love's  new  condition  and  circumstances,  the  new 
youth  of  love  spoken  of  in  107,  10.  Tyler:  A  new  position,  [due  £0  some  change 
in  the  appearance  of  the  beloved  one.]  Wyndham:  Eternal  love,  in  "love's 
fresh  case,"  as  differentiated  by  accident,  is  unaffected  by  age;  [by  which  I 
suppose  is  meant  "in  each  fresh  situation."  —  Ed.]  Beeching:  Such  is  love's 
fresh  case,  its  state  of  always  being  fresh.  [This  interpretation  of  Beeching's 
I  think  is  undoubtedly  right;  cf.  "fresh"  in  107,  10,  where  the  word  means, 
not  new,  but  as  good  as  new.  Schmidt  gives  numerous  instances  of  "case"  in 
the  meaning  of  state  or  condition.  —  Ed.] 

12.  [Here  the  meanings  of  both  "antiquity"  and  "page"  are  rather  curi- 
ously disputed.  Schmidt  defines  the  former  as  "old  age,"  (cf.  62,  10);  Tyler, 
as  "the  appearance  of  the  beloved  one  in  that  olden  time  when  the  attachment 


254  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cvm 

commenced,"  followed  substantially  by  Rolfe;  Wyndham,  "the  praise  of 
ladies  dead  and  lovely  knights"  by  the  "antique  pen"  of  earlier  generations. 
Schmidt  I  think  is  undoubtedly  right;  "old  age"  is  the  more  common  Shake- 
spearean meaning,  and  certainly  pertinent  to  this  quatrain.  As  for  "page," 
Tyler  apparently  understands  it  as  the  page  of  a  book,  since  he  paraphrases 
"Ever  sets  before  him  the  appearance,"  etc.;  and  he  is  followed  by  Miss  Porter 
and  Mrs.  Stopes,  the  former  commenting,  "As  of  a  page  in  a  prayer-book  for 
repetition  forever,"  the  latter,  "Puts  the  mark  in  Life's  book,  at  the  old  story 
of  first  love."  I  understand  Wyndham  to  take  the  same  view,  though  he  does 
not  make  it  perfectly  clear.  On  the  other  hand,  Beeching,  in  paraphrasing, 
"Love  .  .  .  never  sees  the  workings  of  antiquity,  which  is  always  in  its  rear," 
seems  to  imply  the  image  of  a  page  following  in  the  train  of  Love;  (here,  un- 
fortunately, one  cannot  be  certain  just  what  is  understood  by  "antiquity").  It 
argues  against  the  former  interpretation  that  Sh.,  despite  his  abundant  men- 
tion of  books,  never  (unless  here)  uses  the  word  "page"  in  that  connection,  but 
always  "leaf";  with  the  meaning  "servant,"  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  very 
familiar.  I  believe,  therefore,  that  the  line  means  simply,  "makes  old  age  his 
servant,"  instead  of  yielding  it  the  mastery;  for  the  use  of  "page"  with  the 
special  implication  of  inferior,  cf.  M.V.,  II,  i,  35:  "So  is  Alcides  beaten  by  his 
page."  Some  of  the  misreadings  of  the  line  are  apparently  due  to  the  disposi- 
tion to  connect  it  too  closely  with  the  following  couplet,  which  sums  up  the 
whole  theme,  as  commonly,  "there"  referring,  not  backward,  but  forward  to 
"Where."  —  Ed.] 

13-14.  Dowden:  Finding  the  first  conception  of  love,  i.e.,  love  as  passionate 
as  at  first,  excited  by  one  whose  years  and  outward  form  show  the  effects  of 
age.  [One  might  find  a  commentary  on  this  couplet  in  Tennyson's  dedication 
of  his  last  volume  to  his  wife,  — 

This  and  my  love  together, 

To  you  that  are  seventy-seven.  —  Ed.] 

Butler  [finds  here  definite  allusion  to  the  fading  beauty  of  the  friend;  see 
his  note  on  100,  10-11.  Wyndham,  on  the  other  hand,  is  convinced  that  the 
poet  does  not  refer  to  any  such  change,  offering  in  proof  104,  3]. 


cix]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  255 

109 

O  never  say  that  I  was  false  of  heart, 
Though  absence  seem'd  my  flame  to  quallifie, 
As  easie  might  I  from  my  selfe  depart, 
As  from  my  soule  which  in  thy  brest  doth  lye : 
That  is  my  home  of  loue,  if  I  haue  rang'd,  5 

Like  him  that  trauels  I  returne  againe, 
lust  to  the  time,  not  with  the  time  exchang'd, 
So  that  my  selfe  bring  water  for  my  staine, 
Neuer  beleeue  though  in  my  nature  raign'd,  9 

All  frailties  that  besiege  all  kindes  of  blood, 
That  it  could  so  preposterouslie  be  stain'd, 
To  leaue  for  nothing  all  thy  summe  of  good : 
For  nothing  this  wide  Vniuerse  I  call, 
Saue  thou  my  Rose,  in  it  thou  art  my  all. 

4.  thy]  my  G,  S,  E. 
11.  stain'd]  strain 'd  Sta  conj.,  But. 
14.  Rose,  in  it]  Rose  in  it,   S1. 

2.  absence.  Beeching:  The  three  years  during  which  the  friends  did  not 
meet,  quallifie.  Schmidt:  Moderate,  abate. 

4.  Malone:  Cf.  L.  L.  L.,  V,  ii,  826:  "Hence  ever  then  my  heart  is  in  thy 
breast";  and  R.  j,  I,  i,  205:  "Even  so  thy  breast  encloseth  my  poor  heart." 
Tyler:  Cf.  S.  24.   [Cf.  22,  5-7;  133,  9.  —  Ed.] 

5.  my  home  of  love.  Abbott:  [For  "the  home  of  my  love."  Cf.  many  sim- 
ilar transpositions.    (§  423.)] 

5-6.  Malone:  Cf.  M.N.  D.,  Ill,  ii,  171-72: 

My  heart  to  her  but  as  guest- wise  sojourn'd, 
And  now  to  Helen  is  it  home  return'd. 

7.  Dowden:  Punctual  to  the  time,  not  altered  with  the  time.  [For  the  mean- 
ing of  "exchang'd,"  cf.  M.V.,  II,  vi,  35  (Jessica  in  her  boy's  disguise):  "I  am 
much  asham'd  of  my  exchange."]  Mr.  H.  C.  Hart  suggests  to  me  —  over- 
ingeniously  I  think  —  that  Sh.  here  alludes  to  the  practice,  when  travel  was 
more  dangerous  than  at  present,  of  "putting  out  upon  return,"  when  if  the 
traveler  did  not  come  home  true  to  the  time,  he  had  as  it  were  exchanged  for 
his  journey  whatever  sum  he  staked,  forfeiting  both  the  principal  and  the  large 
interest  to  be  paid  on  a  punctual  return  home,  and  getting  in  exchange  only 


256  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cix 

his  travels.  [The  meaning  "altered"  has  become  the  accepted  one  for  "ex- 
chang'd"  in  this  line,  though,  as  Rolfe  observes,  it  is  the  only  instance  of  this 
sense  in  Sh.   Jessica's  noun  "exchange"  is  a  dubious  parallel.  —  Ed.] 

11-12.  Beeching:  The  poet's  absence  was  a  stain  or  fault  [cf.  line  8],  but  not 
so  preposterous  a  stain  as  desertion  would  have  been. 

14.  Rose.  [See  Wyndham's  and  others'  notes  on  1,  2.]  Massey:  I  doubt  if 
there  be  an  instance  in  Sh.  of  man  addressing  man  as  "my  rose,"  and  should 
as  soon  expect  to  find  "my  tulip."  The  Queen  of  Richard  II  speaks  of  her  fair 
rose  withering,  and  Ophelia  of  Hamlet  as  the  "rose  of  the  state."  But  even 
here  it  is  one  sex  describing  the  other.  For  the  rest,  the  "rose"  is  the  woman- 
symbol,  (p.  28.)  Rolfe:  It  is  somewhat  peculiarly  applied  to  the  person  ad- 
dressed, if  that  person  is  a  man.  Is  it  certain  that  this  sonnet  and  the  next  are 
to  a  man? 

Bradley:  It  is  remarkable  .  .  .  that,  while  the  earlier  sonnets  show  much 
deference,  the  later  show  very  little,  so  little  that,  when  the  writer,  finding  that 
he  has  pained  his  young  friend  by  neglecting  him,  begs  to  be  forgiven,  he 
writes  almost,  if  not  quite,  as  an  equal.  Read,  for  example,  Sonnets  109,  no, 
120,  and  ask  whether  it  is  probable  that  Sh.  is  addressing  here  a  great  nobleman. 
(Oxf.  Led.,  p.  332.) 

See  Hudson's  note  at  the  end  of  S.  97. 


ex]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  257 

no 

Alas  'tis  true,  I  haue  gone  here  and  there, 

And  made  my  selfe  a  motley  to  the  view, 

Gor'd  mine  own  thoughts,  sold  cheap  what  is  most  deare, 

Made  old  offences  of  affections  new. 

Most  true  it  is,  that  I  haue  lookt  on  truth  5 

Asconce  and  strangely :  But  by  all  aboue, 

These  blenches  gaue  my  heart  an  other  youth, 

And  worse  essaies  prou'd  thee  my  best  of  loue, 

Now  all  is  done,  haue  what  shall  haue  no  end,  9 

Mine  appetite  I  neuer  more  will  grin'de 

On  newer  proof e,  to  trie  an  older  friend, 

A  God  in  loue,  to  whom  I  am  confin'd. 

Then  giue  me  welcome,  next  my  heauen  the  best, 
Euen  to  thy  pure  and  most  most  louing  brest. 

2.  the]  thy  G2,  S2,  E. 

6.  Asconce]  Ascance  S1;  Askance  G2,  S2,  etc. 

8.  worse]  worst  S2,  E.        essaies]  assaies  1640;  assays  G,  S,  E. 

9.  done,]  done;  Ty.  haue  what]  save  what  Tyr  conj.,  M,  A,  Co,  B,  Hu, 
Kly,  Wh1,  Ox,  But. 

14.  Euen]  E'en  S1.        most  most]  Hyphened  by  Sta. 

1-2.  Henry  Reed:  When  Sh.  meditated  upon  his  theatrical  profession  .  .  . 
he  breathed  out  his  sense  of  degradation  in  [this]  beautiful  sonnet,  of  which 
the  tone  is  a  little  louder  than  a  sigh  and  yet  not  so  harsh  as  a  murmur.  {Lec- 
tures, 2:  262.)  Shindler:  This  is  generally  interpreted  to  express  Sh.'s  dislike 
to  the  profession  of  an  actor;  [but  this  view]  covers  only  a  small  part  of  the 
meaning.  .  .  .  What  was  far  more  repugnant  to  him  was  that  disclosure  of  his 
own  feelings,  that  revelation  of  himself,  which  could  be  seen  in  his  plays  by 
those  who  knew  him  intimately.  He  had  "gored  his  own  thoughts,"  and 
turned  his  own  fresh  griefs  into  dreams  of  bygone  ages.  (This  seems  to  be  the 
meaning  of  line  4.)  (Gent.  Mag.,  272:  77.)  Massey:  His  language  is  identical 
with  Saul's,  when  he  says,  "I  have  sinned;  behold,  I  have  played  the  fool,  and 
have  erred  exceedingly."  Saul  does  not  mean  that  he  had  worn  motley.  If  the 
speaker  had  worn  the  fool's  coat  of  many  colours,  he  would  not  have  been 
necessarily  making  a  fool  of  himself.  The  image  is  not  used  in  that  sense.  If 
he  had  been  playing  the  fool's  part  on  the  stage,  it  would  be  Fortune  that  had 
made  him  a  motley  to  the  view,  not  himself,    (p.  197.)   Tyler:  Whether  Sh. 


258  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [ex 

had  actually  played  "the  part  of  a  fool  or  jester,  a  "motley"  (cf.  A.  Y.  L.,  II, 
vii,  12:  "I  met  a  fool  i'  the  forest,  a  motley  fool")  is  perhaps  doubtful.  The 
word  may  be  here  used  figuratively,  in  accord  with  what  follows.  Sh.  may  have 
"played  the  fool"  by  seeking  new  acquaintance.  J.  M.  Robertson:  It  is 
impossible  to  put  into  fewer  and  fuller  words  the  story,  many  a  year  long,  of 
sordid  compulsion  laid  on  an  artistic  nature  to  turn  its  own  inner  life  into 
matter  for  the  stage.  ...  It  is  true  that  [the  actor's  calling]  is  apt  to  be  more 
humiliating  than  another  to  a  man's  self-respect,  if  his  judgment  remain  sane 
and  sensitive.  (Sh.  &  Montaigne,  p.  160.)  Beeching:  There  is  no  reference  to 
the  poet's  profession  of  player.  The  sonnet  gives  the  confession  of  a  favourite  of 
society.  Bradley:  Beeching's  note  .  .  .  seems  to  be  unquestionably  right.  .  .  . 
This  applies,  I  think,  to  the  whole  group  of  sonnets  (it  begins  with  107)  in 
which  the  poet  excuses  his  neglect  of  his  friend,  though  there  are  also  reference*- 
to  his  profession  and  its  effect.  (Oxf.  Led.,  p.  322  n.)  Porter:  Even  if  [the 
actor's]  career  underlies  the  imagery,  it  is  not  of  himself  as  a  professional  artist 
that  the  poet  is  here  speaking,  but  of  an  impressionable  adaptability  that  has 
overlain  and  hidden  his  genuine  feelings,  and  involved  him  in  false  and  dis- 
creditable positions  with  relation  to  his  friend.  Luce:  [Cf.  the  complaint  of  the 
Muse  Thalia,  in  Spenser's  Tears  of  the  Muses : 

So  am  I  made  the  servant  of  the  manie, 
And  laughing  stocke  of  all  that  list  to  scorne, 
Not  honored  or  cared  for  of  anie; 
But  loath'd  of  losels  as  a  thing  forlorne. 

(Handbook,  p.  93.)] 
Further  on  this  subject,  see  notes  on  S.  in. 

3.  Gor'd.  Schmidt:  Wounded.  Malone:  The  meaning  seems  to  be,  "I 
have  wounded  my  own  thoughts;  I  have  acted  contrary  to  what  I  knew  to  be 
right."   Boswell:  Cf.  Haml.,  V,  ii,  261: 

I  have  a  voice  and  precedent  of  peace, 
To  keep  my  name  ungor'd. 

Dowden:  Cf.  T.  &  C,  III,  iii,  228: 

I  see  my  reputation  is  at  stake, 
My  fame  is  shrewdly  gored. 

Beeching:  [Cf.  with  these  passages  T.  N.,  Ill,  i,  129: 

Have  you  not  set  mine  honour  at  the  stake 
And  baited  it?] 

From  these  passages  it  is  clear  that  for  a  man's  reputation  to  be  "gored" 
meant  that  it  was  exposed,  like  a  bear  at  the  stake,  for  common  censure.  .  .  . 
Or  perhaps  the  clause  means  simply,  "I  have  wounded  my  own  self-respect." 
Stopes:  Spoken  his  own  thoughts  on  the  stage,  thus  losing  his  self-respect. 

4.  Dowden:  Entered  into  new  friendships  and  loves,  which  were  transgres- 
sions against  my  old  love.  Tyler:  "Old  offences"  may  possibly  be  "enduring 
offences."  Verity:  [Perhaps  the  line  means:]  prostituted  my  love  —  a  love  so 


ex]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  259 

new,  so  unknown  to  other  men,  so  rare  —  to  the  old  hackneyed  purposes  and 
commonplaces  of  the  stage;  made  capital  out  Of  my  emotions,  turned  my 
passion  to  account.  Lee:  Sinned  against  old  friendships  by  forming  new  ones. 
There  is  some  inversion  of  phraseology  here,  but  the  general  sense  is  clear. 

5.  truth.  Tyler:  May  be  pretty  nearly  equivalent  to  "virtue,"  though 
"  fidelity"  is  a  not  improbable  meaning.   [See  note  on  54,  2.  —  Ed.] 

6.  strangely.  Walker:  As  though  it  were  a  stranger.  (2:  289.)  Dowden: 
In  a  distant,  mistrustful  way. 

7.  blenches.  Schmidt:  Inconstancies,  aberrations.  Dowden:  Cf.  M.for  M., 
IV,  v,  5: 

Though  sometimes  you  do  blench  from  this  to  that, 
As  cause  doth  minister. 

9.  have.  M alone:  [This  word]  appearing  to  me  unintelligible,  I  have 
adopted  a  conjectural  reading  suggested  by  Mr.  Tyrwhitt.  [It  is  hard  to  see 
why  the  text  appeared  unintelligible  to  Malone,  or  why  his  obsolescent  emen- 
dation should  reappear  in  so  recent  a  text  as  the  Oxford  (Craig's).  —  Ed.] 
Massey:  [Cf.  the  Spanish  proverb,  which  Sh.  appears  to  render  or  adapt: 
"Amor  sin  fin,  no  tiene  fin"  —  "Love  without  end  hath  no  end."    (p.  157.)] 

12.  Dowden:  This  line  seems  to  be  a  reminiscence  of  the  thoughts  expressed 
in  S.  105,  and  to  refer  to  the  First  Commandment.  Rolfe:  I  doubt  whether 
there  is  such  a  reference. 

13.  my  heaven.  Massey  [instances  this  as  proof  that  the  sonnet  was  ad- 
dressed to  one  of  the  opposite  sex,  comparing  Katharine  of  King  Henry,  saying 
that  she  had  "loved  him  next  heaven,"  and  Antipholus,  in  C.  of  E.,  calling 
Luciana  "my  sole  earth's  heaven."  (p.  28.)]  Sharp:  [Perhaps]  an  allusion  to 
his  mistress.  [The  phrase  has  an  interest  as  being  almost  the  only  example  of 
conventional  piety  in  the  poet's  utterances  in  the  Sonnets.  —  Ed.] 

13-14.  Brandes:  This  exactly  corresponds  to  Michael  Angelo's  .  .  .  desire 
to  "clasp  in  his  yearning  ar/ns  his  heart's  loved  lord"  [addressed  to  his  young 
friend  Cavalieri].  (William  Sh.,  1:  349.)  Rolfe:  It  is  difficult  to  believe  that 
this  is  addressed  to  a  man.  Von  Mauntz  [also  thinks  the  lines  cannot  be  viewed 
as  addressed  to  a  man,  and  that  this  sonnet  and  the  preceding  have  to  do  with 
the  return  of  Sh.  to  his  wife  and  family.] 

Gervinus:  Is  it  not  [in  this  sonnet]  as  if  Prince  Henry  were  looking  back 
upon  his  wild  days,  which  were  to  him  a  time  of  trial,  blunting  the  growth  of 
strong  passion?  .  .  .  Not  unfrequently  the  conjecture  has  been  expressed  that 
Sh.  conferred  upon  Prince  Henry  many  essential  qualities  of  his  own  nature. 
If  this  were  decided,  we  should  have  a  sure  and  tangible  point  of  connection, 
uniting  his  life  with  his  poetry.   (Sh.  Commentaries,  p.  469.) 


260  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cxi 

in 

O  for  my  sake  doe  you  wish  fortune  chide, 
The  guiltie  goddesse  of  my  harmfull  deeds, 
That  did  not  better  for  my  life  prouide, 
Then  publick  meanes  which  publick  manners  breeds. 
Thence  comes  it  that  my  name  receiues  a  brand,  5 

And  almost  thence  my  nature  is  subdu'd 
To  what  it  workes  in,  like  the  Dyers  hand, 
Pitty  me  then,  and  wish  I  were  renu'de, 
Whilst  like  a  willing  pacient  I  will  drinke,  9 

Potions  of  Eysell  gainst  my  strong  infection, 
No  bitternesse  that  I  will  bitter  thinke, 
Nor  double  pennance  to  correct  correction. 
Pittie  me  then  deare  friend,  and  I  assure  yee, 
Euen  that  your  pittie  is  enough  to  cure  mee. 

1.  wish]  with  G,  etc. 

2.  harmfull]  harmlesse  1640;  harmless  G,  S,  E.       deeds]  needs  Wh  conj. 
4.  manners]  custom  G2. 

14.  Euen]  E'en  S,  E. 

M alone:  The  author  seems  here  to  lament  his  being  reduced  to  the  necessity 
of  appearing  on  the  stage,  or  writing  for  the  theatre.  Boswell:  Is  there  any- 
thing in  these  words  which,  read  without  a  preconceived  hypothesis,  would 
particularly  apply  to  the  public  profession  of  a  player  or  writer  for  the  stage? 
The  troubles  and  dangers  which  attend  upon  public  life  in  general,  and  the 
happiness  and  virtue  of  retirement,  are  among  the  tritest  commonplaces  of 
poetry.  Nor  was  such  querulous  language  likely  to  have  proceeded  from  Sh. 
Ben  Jonson,  who  was  frequently  obliged  to  exhibit  before  audiences  who  were 
incapable  of  appreciating  the  depth  of  his  knowledge,  the  accuracy  of  his 
judgment,  or  the  dignity  of  his  moral,  might  at  one  time  be  desirous  of  quitting 
"the  loathed  stage,"  or  Massinger  might  have  murmured  at  a  calling  which 
scarcely  procured  him  a  subsistence;  but  our  poet  appears,  from  the  commence- 
ment to  the  close  of  his  dramatic  career,  to  have  met  with  uninterrupted  suc- 
cess, and  would  scarcely  indulge  in  such  bitter  complaints  against  a  profession 
which  was  rapidly  conducting  him  to  fortune  as  well  as  to  fame.  (Prelim. 
Remarks,  pp.  219-20.)  Lamb:  Who  can  read  that  affecting  sonnet  of  Sh.'s 
which  alludes  to  his  profession  as  a  player,  ...  or  that  other  confession, 
"Alas!  't  is  true,"  [etc.,  S.  no]  —  who  can  read  these  instances  of  jealous  self- 


cxi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  261 

watchfulness  in  our  sweet  Sh.,  and  dream  of  any  congeniality  between  him  and 
one  that,  by  every  tradition  of  him,  appears  to  have  been  as  mere  a  player  as 
ever  existed.  [This  in  allusion  to  Garrick,  and  in  indignant  remonstrance  with 
the  notion  that  he  was  possessed  of  a  kindred  mind  with  Sh.'s.]  (Essay  on  the 
Tragedies  of  Sh.)  Delius  [follows  Boswell  (Jahrb.,  1 :  49-50)  in  arguing  for  the 
improbability  of  Sh.'s  regarding  his  profession  as  a  disgrace.  So,  in  his  com- 
mentary, he  observes  that  lines  3-4]  tell  us  only,  in  general,  that  the  poet  had 
been  drawn  into  commerce  with  the  world  from  considerations  of  a  livelihood, 
and  cannot  withdraw  from  this  in  spite  of  the  wish  of  his  own  heart.  Massey: 
[That  these  two  sonnets  indicate  Sh.'s  disgust  at  his  player's  life]  is  not  fitted 
to  the  relationship  of  poet  and  patron,  and  it  is  quite  opposed  to  all  that  we 
learn  of  Sh.'s  character.  It  is  not  true  that  he  had  gone  here,  there,  and  every- 
where to  make  a  fool  of  himself,  when  he  was  quietly  working  for  his  company. 
.  .  .  Nor  could  he  with  any  the  least  propriety  speak  of  making  a  fool  of  himself 
on  the  stage,  which  was  the  meeting-place  of  himself  and  the  Earl,  the  fount  of 
Sh.'s  honour,  the  spring  of  his  good  fortune,  the  known  delight  of  Southamp- 
ton's leisure.  .  .  .  Nor  have  we  ever  heard  of  any  "harmful  deeds,"  or  doings  of 
Sh.,  occasioned  in  consequence  of  his  connection  with  the  stage.  Nor  do  we 
see  how  his  name  could  be  branded,  or  "receive  a  brand,"  from  his  connection 
with  the  theatre.  .  .  .  He  had  no  name  apart  from  the  theatre,  and  the  friend- 
ships it  had  brought  him.  .  .  .  [As  to  the  "public  means"  of  line  4,]  it  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  questioned  whether  a  player  of  Elizabeth's  time  would  speak 
of  living  by  "public  means,"  when  the  highest  thing  aimed  at  by  the  players  was 
private  patronage,  except  where  they  hoped  to  become  the  sworn  servants  of 
Royalty.  If  the  Lord  Chamberlain's  servants  were  accounted  public,  it  would 
be  in  a  special  sense,  not  merely  because  they  were  players.  .  .  .  Even  if  it  had 
applied,  it  was  an  impossible  comment  for  our  poet  to  make  on  what  he  had 
been  striving  to  do.  .  .  .  The  meaning,  as  illustrated  in  the  context,  is  that  the 
speaker  has  to  live  in  the  public  eye  in  a  way  that  is  apt  to  beget  public  man- 
ners. .  .  .  His  public  is  the  only  public  of  Sh.'s  time,  the  court  circle  and  public 
officers  of  the  state.  .  .  .  [Cf.  L.  L.  L.,  I,  i,  132:  "He  shall  endure  such  public 
shame  as  the  rest  of  the  court  shall  possibly  desire";  A.  Y.  L.,  I,  iii,  46:  "Our 
public  court";  etc.]  ...  S.  25  will  tell  us  what  Sh.  did  not  consider  "public," 
for  he  therein  expressly  says  that  Fortune  has  debarred  him  from  public  hon- 
ours, (pp.  189-91.)  Elze:  [In  the  Sonnets  Sh.  bitterly  complains  of  the  bad 
reputation  of  his  calling.]  That  the  stage  cast  a  certain  stigma  upon  those 
belonging  to  it  has  been  nowhere  more  bluntly  stated  than  by  John  Davies  in 
his  Microcosmos  (1603),  in  a  sonnet  which  has  all  the  appearance  of  having 
been  addressed  to  Sh.  and  Burbage:  "The  stage  doth  stain  pure  gentle  blood," 
he  says,  but  then  immediately  adds:  "Yet  generous  ye  are  in  mind  and  mood." 
(William  Sh.,  p.  224.)  That  Sh.'s  lament  of  the  lowness  of  his  social  position 
is  not  a  mere  fancy,  but  an  involuntary  autobiographical  sigh,  can  scarcely  be 
denied  when  taken  in  connection  with  the  other  circumstances  of  his  life;  and 
the  correctness  of  this  supposition  is  supported  by  the  poet's  father  having 
applied  for  the  grant  of  a  coat-of-arms,  doubtless  at  the  son's  instigation. 


262  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cxi 

(ibid.,  p.  427.)    Halliwell-Phillipps:  [With  respect  to  the  supposition  that 
there  is  a  reference  here  to  a  bitter  feeling  of  personal  degradation  resulting 
from  Sh.'s  connection  with  the  stage,]  is  it  conceivable  that  a  man  who  encour- 
aged a  sentiment  of  this  nature,  one  which  must  have  been  accompanied  with 
a  distaste  and  contempt  for  his  profession,  would  have  remained  an  actor  years 
and  years  after  any  real  necessity  for  such  a  course  had  expired?  By  the  spring 
of  1602,  at  the  latest,  if  not  previously,  he  had  acquired  a  secure  and  definite 
competence  independently  of  his  emoluments  as  a  dramatist,  and  yet,  eight 
years  afterwards,  in  1610,  he  is  discovered  playing  in  company  with  Burbage 
and  Hemmings  at  the  Blackfriars  Theatre.   When,  in  addition  to  this  volun- 
tary long  continuance  on  the  boards,  we  bear  in  mind  the  vivid  interest  in  the 
stage,  and  in  the  purity  of  the  acted  drama,  which  is  exhibited  in  the  well- 
known  dialogue  in  Hamlet,  and  that  the  poet's  last  wishes  included  affection- 
ate recollections  of  three  of  his  fellow-players,  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  he 
could  have  nourished  a  real  antipathy  to  his  lower  vocation.  ...  If  there  is, 
amongst  the  defective  records  of  the  poet's  life,  one  feature  demanding  special 
respect,  it  is  the  unflinching  courage  with  which,  notwithstanding  his  desire 
for  social  position,  he  braved  public  opinion  in  favour  of  a  continued  adherence 
to  that  which  he  felt  was  in  itself  a  noble  profession.  .  .  .  These  considerations 
may  suffice  to  eliminate  a  personal  application  from  [these]  two  sonnets.   (Out- 
lines, 8th  ed.,  1:  174-75.)    C.  W.  Franklyn  [discusses  this  question,  Westm. 
Rev.,  132:  348,  believing  that  this  sonnet  represents  a  temporary  snobbishness 
in  the  author's  attitude  toward  the  stage.   Sh.'s  whole  later  history  disproves 
its  being  his  real  opinion.]   Tyler:  That  Sh.  should  have  expressed  a  dislike 
for  the  dramatic  profession  and  its  surroundings  has  been  looked   upon  as 
scarcely  credible,  and  yet  this  is  a  matter  on  which  the  Sonnets  leave  no  room 
for  doubt.  ...  To  Sh.  the  associations  and  circumstances  of  the  theatre  seemed 
debasing.  And  this  feeling  might  well  be  deepened  by  intimacy  with  a  young 
nobleman  of  so  high  rank  as  William  Herbert.   With  the  sensitiveness  of  his 
poetic  nature,  Sh.  could  not  but  deeply  feel  his  being  looked  upon  as  so  mean 
a  person  that  social  usage  would  not  allow  his  dearest  friend  to  recognise  the 
acquaintance  in  public  [cf.  S.  36].  (Intro.,  p.  113.)  Lee:  That  Sh.  chafed  under 
some  of  the  conditions  of  the  actor's  calling  is  commonly  inferred.  ...  [If  the 
self-pity  of  these  sonnets]  is  to  be  literally  interpreted,  it  only  reflected  an 
evanescent  mood.   His  interest  in  all  that  touched  the  efficiency  of  his  profes- 
sion was  permanently  alive.   He  was  a  keen  critic  of  actors'  elocution,  and  in 
Hamlet  shrewdly  denounced  their  common  failings,  but  clearly  and  hopefully 
pointed  out  the  road  to  improvement.    His  highest  ambitions  lay,  it  is  true, 
elsewhere  than  in  acting,  and  at  an  early  period  of  his  theatrical  career  he 
undertook,  with  triumphant  success,  the  labours  of  a  playwright.  But  he  pur- 
sued the  profession  of  an  actor  loyally  and  uninterruptedly  until  he  resigned 
all  connection  with  the  theatre  within  a  few  years  of  his  death.    (Life, 
pp.  44-45.)    Wyndham:  To  say  that  he  could  never  have  slighted  his  art  as  an 
actor,  .  .  .  and  then  to  seek  for  far-fetched  and  fantastic  interpretations,  is  to 
evince  an  ignorance,  not  only  of  the  obloquy  to  which  actors  were  then  ex- 


cxi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  263 

posed,  and  of  the  degradations  they  had  to  bear,  but  also  of  human  nature  as 
we  know  it  even  in  heroes.  Wellington  is  said  to  have  wept  over  the  carnage 
at  Waterloo;  the  grossness  of  his  material  often  infects  the  artist,  and  "potter's 
rot"  has  its  analogue  in  every  profession.  This  feeling  of  undeserved  degrada- 
tion is  a  mood  most  incident  to  all  who  work,  whether  artists  or  men  of  action. 
(Intro.,  p.  cxiv.)  P.  E.  More  [quotes,  in  illustration  of  Sh.'s  attitude  toward 
his  profession,  J.C.,  I,  ii,  260-63:  "If  the  tag-rag  people  did  not  clap  him  and 
hiss  him,  according  as  he  pleased  and  displeased  them,  as  they  use  to  do  the 
players  in  the  theatre,  I  am  no  true  man."]  We  do  not  often,  while  under  the 
spell  of  Sh.'s  magic,  consider  what  it  must  have  meant  to  so  sensitive  and  self- 
conscious  a  nature  as  his  to  have  been  exposed  to  the  outrageous  approval  and 
disapproval  of  an  Elizabethan  audience.   (Shelburne  Essays,  2:  38.) 

2.  guiltie  goddesse.  Abbott:  [For  "goddess  guilty"  etc.;  for  similar  trans- 
positions, see  §  419a.] 

4.  publick.  Schmidt:  Vulgar.  Tyler:  Implying  vulgar,  low,  and  probably 
disreputable  conduct.  Beeching:  I  do  not  think,  with  Schmidt,  that  the  word 
means  "vulgar."  It  may  perhaps  mean  "no  better  than  ordinary."  [He 
paraphrases  the  line :]  To  be  dependent  upon  the  public  for  livelihood  begets  a 
popularity-hunting  temper. 

5.  brand.  Fleay:  The  branding  ...  is  simply  that  produced  by  satirical 
writing  of  severe  criticism.  [Cf.  Poetaster  (last  scene):  "I  could  stamp  their 
foreheads  with  those  deep  and  public  brands"  etc.]   (Macm.  Mag.,  31:  441.) 

6.  subdu'd.  Beeching:  Brought  into  conformity  with.  Cf.  Oth.,  I,  iii,  251: 
"My  heart's  subdued  even  to  the  very  quality  of  my  lord."  [Main  notes  an 
echo  of  the  Shakespearean  use  of  the  word  in  The  Cenci,  III,  i: 

Utterly  lost,  subdued  even  to  the  hue 
Of  that  which  thou  permittest.] 

8.  renu'de.  Gervinus:  The  metamorphosis  after  which  the  poet  sighs,  the 
renovation  of  his  being,  we  seem  to  perceive  taking  place,  from  a  few  intima- 
tions, especially  in  the  last  group  of  our  sonnets.  The  renewal  after  which  he 
aspired  may  be  understood  and  interpreted  in  different  ways.  In  his  outward 
career  it  is  very  remarkable  that,  at  the  period  of  the  origin  of  these  sonnets, 
we  first  find  Sh.  endeavoring  to  raise  himself  above  his  position,  to  enter  the 
rank  of  the  gentry,  and  to  advance  in  consideration  and  esteem  by  increasing 
his  worldly  possessions.  .  .  .  But  with  this  self-reliance  with  regard  to  his  social 
position,  a  still  more  thorough  renewal  appears  to  have  been  linked.  In  the 
most  different  passages  of  the  later  sonnets,  where  a  more  serious  mood  has 
seized  him,  he  glances  upon  his  past  conduct  with  the  severity  of  fresh  auster- 
ity. [Cf .  Gervinus's  remark  on  S.  1 10.]   ( Commentaries,  pp.  466-69.) 

10.  Eysell.  M alone:  Vinegar  is  esteemed  very  efficacious  in  preventing 
the  communication  of  the  plague  and  other  contagious  distempers.  Causton 
[(Essay  on  Mr.  Singer's  "  Wormwood ")  discusses  at  length  the  word  in  Sh.,  as 
meaning  sour  vinegar;  (cf.  Haml.,  V,  i,  299.)]   Even  as  the  dyer  washes  his 


264  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cxi 

hands  in  acid  (eysell)  to  remove  his  surface  stain,  so,  bringing  the  purgation  for 
his  own  brand,  .  .  .  [Sh.]  took  the  "water  for  his  stain"  inwardly,  by  the 
throat,  (pp.  47-48.)  J.  Q.  Adams,  Jr.,  [in  a  note  in  Mod.  Lang.  Notes,  29:  2, 
argues  from  the  use  of  the  word  here  that  S.  Ill  is  contemporary  with  Hamlet.] 
12.  correct  correction.  Tyler:  Complete  and  perfect  the  correction  of  my 
conduct.  [We  should,  of  course,  expect  that  to  "correct  correction"  would  be 
to  alter  or  reverse  it;  but  Tyler  is  doubtless  right  in  taking  this  as  a  kind  of 
"cognate"  construction.  It  may  be  said  to  be  analogous  to  "out-Herod 
Herod."  —  Ed.] 

Henry  Reed:  This  would  be  sweet  language  from  any  lips;  but  what  can 
be  deeper  than  the  pathos  of  it,  when  you  reflect  that  it  is  the  grief  of  one  whose 
wisdom,  for  more  than  two  centuries,  has  been  reverently  quoted  by  statesmen, 
philosophers,  and  divines,  whose  plots  have  wound  round  so  many  hearts  and 
moistened  so  many  eyes?   (Lectures,  2:  263.) 

Bleibtreu  [(Die  Gegenwart,  75:  395;  noted  in  Jahrb.,  46:  215)  believes  that 
this  sonnet  was  written  by  Lord  Rutland,  while  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower,  de- 
prived of  his  property,  and  compelled  to  earn  his  bread  by  ignoble  means.] 


cxii]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  265 

112 

Your  loue  and  pittie  doth  th'impression  fill, 
Which  vulgar  scandall  stampt  vpon  my  brow, 
For  what  care  I  who  calles  me  well  or  ill, 
So  you  ore-greene  my  bad,  my  good  alow? 
You  are  my  All  the  world,  and  I  must  striue,  5 

To  know  my  shames  and  praises  from  your  tounge, 
None  else  to  me,  nor  I  to  none  aliue, 
That  my  steel'd  sence  or  changes  right  or  wrong, 
In  so  profound  Abisme  I  throw  all  care  6 

Of  others  voyces,  that  my  Adders  sence, 
To  cry ttick  and  to  flatterer  stopped  are : 
Marke  how  with  my  neglect  I  doe  dispence. 
You  are  so  strongly  in  my  purpose  bred, 
That  all  the  world  besides  me  thinkes  y  'are  dead. 

1.  th'impression]  the  impression  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Del,  Gl,  Kly,  Cam,  Do,  R, 
Wh2,  Ty,  Ox,  But,  Her,  Be,  N. 

4.  ore-greene]  o'er-look  G2;  o'er-skreen  S,  E;  o'er-grieve  Stee  conj. 

5.  All  the  world,  and]  all,  the  world  and  G,  S,  E;  all-the-world,  and  M,  A,  Kt, 
Co,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Kly,  Wh1,  Hal,  Ty,  Ox,  Be,  Bull,  Wa. 

8.  sence]  sense1  Dy,  Sta.  or  changes]  e'er  changes  M  conj.;  so  changes 
Kt,  conj.;  changes,  or  Kly;  or  charges  anon.  conj.         right]  right,  C. 

10.  sence]  sense'  Dy,  Sta. 

14.  besides]  beside  But;  besides,  Hu1,  Ty,  Wa,  Tu.  me  thinkes  y'are]  me, 
thinks  I'm  S;  me  thinks  I'm  E;  methinks  are  Stee  conj.,  C,  M1,  A,  Kt,  B,  Hu, 
Co2,  Sta,  Gl,  Kly,  Cam,  R,  Wh2,  Ox,  But,  Her,  Be,  Bull;  methinks  they  are  M2, 
Co1,  Wh1;  methinks  they're  Del,  Dy,  CI,  Hal,  Co3,  Do;  methinks  y'are  Ty;  me 
thinks  you're  N;  methinks,  are  Hu,  Wa,  Tu. 

Fleay:  [With  this  whole  sonnet,  cf.  Drayton,  Idea,  S.  47: 

In  pride  of  wit,  when  high  desire  of  fame 
Gave  life  and  courage  to  my  lab'ring  pen,  .  .  . 

No  public  glory  vainly  I  pursue: 
All  that  I  seek  is  to  eternize  you. 

(Biog.  Chron.,  2:  229.)] 

2.  vulgar  scandall.  Tyler:  The  great  difficulty  in  the  way  of  supposing  that 
the  reference  is  merely  to  the  stage  and  acting  is  presented  by  the  remarkable 


266  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cxn 

language  of  S.  121,  from  which  it  appears  that  the  scandal  had  some  relation 
to  Sh.'s  moral  character.  .  .  .  Sh.  does  not  deny  that  there  was  some  founda- 
tion for  the  scandal.  He  pleads,  however,  that  his  failings  had  been  exagger- 
ated, and  that  his  accusers  were  worse  than  himself.  [Tyler  goes  on  to  suggest 
that  there  may  be  some  connection  between  these  sonnets  and  the  anecdote 
respecting  Sh.,  Burbage,  and  a  lady-citizen,  told  in  John  Manningham's 
Diary,  March  13,  1601-02;  and  also  with  the  alleged  exchange  of  hostilities 
between  Jonson  and  Sh.,  of  which  there  have  been  thought  to  be  evidences  in 
the  Satiromastix  and  The  Return  from  Parnassus.  He  concludes:]  It  is  suffi- 
cient .  .  .  that  we  have  evidence  that  in  or  about  1601  there  was  in  circulation 
scandal  affecting  Sh.'s  moral  character  and  connected  with  the  theatre,  and 
also  that  there  was  at  the  same  time  a  theatrical  quarrel  in  which  Sh.  was 
supposed  to  have  taken  part.  It  is  not  at  all  difficult  to  understand  how,  from 
such  elements,  scandal  and  slander  may  have  grown  and  become  intensified  to 
any  possible  degree.   (Intro.,  pp.  1 15-21.) 

4.  ore-greene.  M alone:  The  allusion  seems  to  be  either  to  the  practice  of 
covering  a  bare  coarse  piece  of  ground  with  fresh  green-sward,  or  to  that  of 
planting  ivy  or  jessamine  to  conceal  an  unsightly  building.  Steevens:  I  would 
read  "o'er  grieve,"  i.e.,  .  .  .  compassionate  my  failings.  Schmidt:  Cover  with 
verdure.  Massey:  Folds  up  my  faults  as  the  green  grass  hides  the  grave,  or 
the  ivy's  embrace  conceals  the  scars  of  time.  (p.  195.)  Tyler:  Screening  it  as 
with  leaves.  Beeching:  It  is  not  clear  what  particular  metaphor  the  poet 
had  in  mind;  perhaps  the  grassing  over  of  a  bare  patch.  Cf.  68,  11.  alow. 
Malone:  Approve.  Rolfe:  Cf.  Psalms,  11 :  6  (Prayer  Book  version):  "The 
Lord  alloweth  the  righteous." 

7-8.  Steevens:  The  meaning  of  this  purblind  and  obscure  stuff  seems  to 
be:  "You  are  the  only  person  who  has  power  to  change  my  stubborn  resolu- 
tion, either  to  what  is  right  or  to  what  is  wrong."  Dowden:  No  one  living  for 
me  except  you,  nor  I  alive  to  any,  who  can  change  my  feelings  fixed  as  steel 
either  for  good  or  ill  (either  to  pleasure  or  pain).  Cartwright:  [Line  8  may 
mean:]  "Whatever  I  do,  I  am  always  in  the  wrong,  therefore  my  steel'd  sense 
(.  .  .  his  indignant  feelings)  will  make  no  change,  no  difference  between  right 
or  wrong  towards  others,  (p.  33.)  Herford  [paraphrases  "or  changes  right  or 
wrong":]  accepts  criticism  from  just  or  unjust.  Beeching:  So  far  as  I  am 
concerned,  there  is  no  one  but  you  alive  in  all  the  world  by  whom  my  resolute 
mind  can  be  changed  to  right  or  wrong.  Perhaps  we  should  read  "charges"; 
in  that  case  the  paraphrase  would  be,  There  is  none  but  you  from  whom  my 
mind  receives  charges  of  right  or  wrong.  Lee:  Nobody  else  is  anything  to  me 
nor  I  anything  to  anybody  else  who  is  likely  to  endow  my  hardened  sensibility 
.  or  my  vacillations  of  temper  with  any  sense  of  right  or  wrong.  [I  doubt  if  any 
one  has  bettered  Steevens's  reading.  —  Ed.] 

8.  sence.  Malone:  Here  used  for  "senses."  Dyce:  Evidently  a  plural,  as 
in  the  next  line  but  one.  Cf.  Macb.,  V,  i,  29:  "Their  sense  are  shut." 

10.  Adders.  Malone:  Cf.  T.  &  C,  II,  3,  172:  "Ears  more  deaf  than 
adders."  sence.  Abbott:  The  plural  and  possessive  cases  of  nouns  in  which 


cxn]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  267 

the  singular  ends  in  s,  se,  ss,  ce,  and  ge,  are  frequently  written,  and  still  more 
frequently  pronounced,  without  the  additional  syllable.   (§  471.) 

13.  Schmidt:  You  are  so  kept  and  harboured  in  my  thoughts.    [Cf.  also 
notes  on  line  14.] 

14.  Steevens  [following  Malone's  emendation:]  I  proceed  as  if  the  world, 
yourself  excepted,  were  no  more.  Malone:  "Y'are"  was,  I  suppose,  an 
abbreviation  for  "they  are"  or  "th'  are."  Tyler  [keeping  the  Q  text:]  The 
poet  turns  and  addresses  the  world.  Cf.  104,  13-14.  Wyndham:  Why  was  the 
[emendation]  made?  Not  ...  to  make  sense  of  a  passage  which,  as  printed  in 
Q,  is  nonsense;  but  because  the  emendators  reject  the  sense  which  it  bears, 
when  so  printed,  as  improbable.  That  sense  is  unexpected,  even  startling: 
Every  one  except  myself  thinks  that  you  are  dead.  Is  it  impossible  that  Sh. 
should  have  meant  this?  If  not  impossible,  the  alterations  in  the  text,  unre- 
warded by  any  signal  addition  to  the  meaning  of  the  sonnet,  can  hardly  be 
defended.  Now  the  couplet,  as  emended,  adds  nothing  to  the  meaning:  it 
merely  repeats  one  half  of  the  meaning  of  line  7,  "none  else  to  me  .  .  .  alive." 
That,  indeed,  was  the  evident  object  of  Malone's  emendation:  having  rejected 
the  sense  of  the  couplet  as  it  stood,  he  altered  it  to  suit  the  sense  of  the  second 
quatrain.  Sh.  has  some  weak  couplets,  but  none  which  merely  repeats  —  or, 
as  here,  repeats  less  completely  —  an  idea  already  completely  set  forth.  And 
he  can  scarce  have  echoed  the  second  quatrain  feebly  after  a  third  quatrain 
intervening  with  a  strong  crescendo  of  emphasis.  ...  He  creates  an  expectation 
of  some  startling  declaration.  In  Q  we  get  one.  Not  only  is  the  friend  "all  the 
world  "  to  the  poet  —  every  one  else  dead  to  the  poet  and  he  dead  to  every  one 
—  but  (and  he  begs  us  to  "mark  how"  he  dispenses  with  his  neglect  at  the 
hands  of  the  world)  the  friend  is  so  in  his  "purpose  bred"  (=  so  thoroughly 
kneaded  into  the  intention  of  his  being)  that  he  too  shares  the  poet's  case:  him 
also  the  world  holds  for  dead.  The  sonnet  is  hyperbolical  throughout,  and  its 
crescendo  movement  prepares  us  for  a  last  extravagance  of  hyperbole.  Is  this, 
the  straightforward  meaning  of  Q,  too  startling?  I  think  not.  [This  ingeniously 
labored  argument  is  sufficiently  answered  by  Beeching,  who  observes  that  in 
keeping  the  Q  text  we  get  not  only  "a  startling  declaration,"  but]  a  statement 
which  in  no  way  excuses  Sh.'s  neglect  of  other  critics  or  flatterers,  as  it  pro- 
fesses to  do.  And  it  is  not  the  fact  that  line  14  as  amended  merely  repeats  line  7. 
That  said  simply,  "There  is  no  one  alive  but  you  who  can  move  me";  this  says, 
"there  is  no  one  alive  but  you,"  —  a  climax,  and  a  sufficiently  "startling  decla- 
ration." Porter  [again  keeping  the  Q  text:]  You  are  so  strongly  bred,  i.e., 
astir  and  quick,  so  alive  within  my  settled  mind,  that,  in  comparison  with 
what  I  think  you  are,  all  the  world,  besides  me,  thinks  you  are  dead.  ...  He 
who  is  so  actually  alive  in  the  world's  esteem,  is  dead  to  every  one  compared  to 
what  he  is  to  the  poet. 


268  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cxm 

113 

Since  I  left  you,  mine  eye  is  in  my  minde, 
And  that  which  gouernes  me  to  goe  about, 
Doth  part  his  function,  and  is  partly  blind, 
Seemes  seeing,  but  effectually  is  out: 
For  it  no  forme  deliuers  to  the  heart  5 

Of  bird,  of  flowre,  or  shape  which  it  doth  lack, 
Of  his  quick  obiects  hath  the  minde  no  part, 
Nor  his  owne  vision  houlds  what  it  doth  catch : 
For  if  it  see  the  rud'st  or  gentlest  sight,  9 

The  most  sweet-fauor  or  deformedst  creature, 
The  mountaine,  or  the  sea,  the  day,  or  night: 
The  Croe,  or  Doue,  it  shapes  them  to  your  feature. 
Incapable  of  more  repleat,  with  you, 
My  most  true  minde  thus  maketh  mine  vntrue. 

I.  left]  felt  Godwin  conj. 

6.  bird,  of]  birds,  or  1640,  G,  S,  E.        flowre]  flowers  S1,  E.        lack]  latch 
C,  M2,  etc. 
8.  catch]  take  G2. 
10.  sweet-fauor]  sweet  favour  1640,  G,  etc.;  sweet-favour' d  Del  conj. 

13.  more  repleat,]  more,  repleat  G1,  S1;  more,  replete  G2,  S2,  etc. 

14.  My]  Thy  M  conj.  [with  the  rest  of  the  line  unchanged],  maketh  mine] 
makes  mine  eye  C,  M  conj.,  Gl,  R,  Her;  maketh  my  eyne  Co  conj.;  maketh  m'eye 
Cartwright;  mak'th  mine  eye  Lettsom  conj.;  maketh  mind  Wh2;  maketh  mine  eye 
Kly,  N. 

Isaac  [groups  this  and  S.  114  with  the  other  absence  sonnets,  27-28,  43-45, 
48»  50-51,  61,  believing  them  all  to  have  been  addressed  to  a  lady.  Following 
Simpson,  he  emphasizes  the  Renaissance  Platonism  of  the  theme  —  the  idea 
of  love  in  absence,  as  distinguished  from  eye-love  in  the  presence  of  beauty; 
and  compares  a  sonnet  of  Michelangelo's  in  which  divine  love  answers  the 
poet's  question  whether  his  lady  is  really  as  beautiful  as  she  seems  to  him, 
another  of  Petrarch's  (Pt.  i,  S.  124),  and  Spenser's  87th: 

Of  which  beholding  the  Idea  plain, 
Through  contemplation  of  my  purest  part, 
With  light  thereof  I  do  myself  sustain, 
And  thereon  feed  my  love-affamish'd  heart. 

(Archiv,  61:  419-23.)] 


COT]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  269 

1.  Tyler:  Cf.  47,  7-8.  Beeching:  It  is  not  ch&r  whether  "  Since  I  left  you  " 
refers  to  a  new  and  particular  absence,  or  to  the  long  interval  of  separation. 

3.  part  his  function.  Malone:  Partly  performs  his  office.  [Better,  "its 
office,"  since  the  pronoun  is  doubtless  neuter;  cf.  line  5.  —  Ed.]  Dowden: 
Divide  its  function.  Hudson:  [The  context  requires  the  meaning,]  depart  from 
or  forsake  his  function.  Rolfe:  "Partly"  confirms  the  [meaning  "divide"]. 
Wyndham:  Perhaps,  "share  his  function  with  the  mind";  but  more  probably, 
depart,  abandon.  Cf.  R.  2,  III,  i,  3:  "Your  souls  must  part  your  bodies." 
Beeching:  Performs  only  part  of  its  function.  Lee:  Forsake.  Porter:  A 
play  on  the  different  shade  of  sense  and  the  similar  sound  of  "part,"  in  the 
Elizabethan  sense  of  "depart  from,"  .  .  .  and  a  divided  sharing  of  the  functions 
of  eye  and  mind. 

5-6.  Lee:  Cf.  S.  53.  These  lines  expand  Petrarch's  beautiful  Canzone  15, 
headed  "In  ogni  cosa  trova  il  Poeta  l'imagine  di  Laura,"  where  the  poet  de- 
tects his  mistress's  form  in  every  aspect  of  nature. 

6.  lack.  Malone:  The  corresponding  rhyme  shows  that  what  I  have  now 
substituted  was  the  author's  word.  To  latch  formerly  signified  "to  lay  hold  of." 
Cf.  Macb.,  IV,  iii,  195: 

I  have  words 
That  would  be  howl'd  out  in  the  desert  air, 
Where  hearing  should  not  latch  them. 

10.  favor.  Schmidt:  Features,  countenance. 

14.  mine  untrue.  Malone:  I  once  suspected  that  Sh.  wrote  "mine  eye 
untrue,"  or,  "Thy  most  true  mind  thus  maketh  mine  untrue."  But  the  text 
is  undoubtedly  right.  The  word  "untrue"  is  used  as  a  substantive.  "The  sin- 
cerity of  my  affection  is  the  cause  of  my  untruth,"  i.e.,  of  my  not  seeing  objects 
truly,  such  as  they  appear  to  the  rest  of  mankind.  [Cf.  M.  for  M.,  II,  iv,  170: 
"My  false  o'erweighs  your  true";  K.J.,  II,  i,  101:  "This  little  abstract  doth 
contain  that  large."]  Collier:  Possibly  we  ought  to  read  "my  eyne,"  the 
printer  having  composed  the  word  from  his  ear.  .  .  .  [But  as  Malone's  inter- 
pretation] renders  an  alteration  of  the  ancient  text  needless,  we  hesitatingly 
adopt  it.  White  [in  his  1st  edition,  keeping  the  Q  text:]  The  semblance,  the 
fictitious  (and  so  the  false  or  untrue)  object  which  is  constantly  before  me. 
[In  his  second  edition,  adopting  "mind":]  The  correction  of  a  slight  and 
easily  made  typographical  error  restores  a  natural  sense,  and  gives  an  anti- 
thetical conceit  which  is  quite  in  Sh.'s  manner,  and  which  is  in  keeping  with 
the  continuation  of  the  thought  in  the  next  sonnet.  B.  Nicholson  [(Ath., 
Feb.  3,  1883,  p.  150)  proposes  to  read  "mine"  as  =  mien;  i.e.,  the  Anglo- 
French  mine,  glossed  by  Cotgrave  as  "favour,  feature,  outward  face."  Sh. 
then  says,  "  My  mind,  most  true  to  you,  makes  the  feature  of  any  other  thing 
presented  to  it  an  untrue  show,  or  an  appearance  untrue  to  itself."  He  finds 
an  equivoque  of  both  senses  of  the  word  in  134,  3 ,  and  in  the  Phoenix  &  Turtle, 
line  36:  "Either  was  the  other's  mine."  In  this  interpretation  of  "mine," 
Nicholson  had  been  anticipated  by  Tschischwitz,  in  his  translation  of  1870.] 


2;o  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cxm 

Tyler:  A  tempting  emendation  has  been  suggested  —  "mind  untrue."  But 
the  sense  required  would  rather  seem  to  be  that  the  mind  makes  the  eyes  un- 
true. It  is  not  easy  to  suppose  that  "mine"  was  originally  "m'  eyen,"  equiva- 
lent to  "my  eyes,"  and  pronounced  as  one  syllable.  It  is  perhaps,  on  the 
whole,  best,  even  if  this  view  be  not  quite  unobjectionable,  to  take  "untrue" 
as  a  substantive,  and  to  take  as  the  meaning  that  the  poet's  mind,  true  to  his 
friend,  causes  his  untruthfulness,  —  causes  him  to  be  untruthful  to  the  actual 
objects  around  him.  Wyndham:  "Untrue"  is  a  substantive.  .  .  .  But  there  is 
also  a  phonetic  suggestion  of  "mine"  =  m'  eyne  =  my  eyes.  [This  is  a  partic- 
ularly fantastic  application  of  Wyndham's  curious  belief  that  Sh.  was  in  the 
habit  of  meaning  two  or  three  quite  different  things  at  the  same  time.  —  Ed. J 
Butler  [paraphrases  the  line:]  The  untruthfulness  of  my  perceptions  is  caused 
by  the  truthfulness  of  my  affection  for  you.  Beeching  [also  follows  Malone's 
interpretation.]  Walsh  :  Probably  the  correct  reading  for  "  mine  "  is  "  m'  eyne  " 
(my  eyes).  Lee:  "Untrue"  may  possibly  be  used  like  a  noun  for  "untruth," 
"deception."  "Fair"  is  repeatedly,  and  "true"  and  "false"  are  occasionally, 
used  as  substantives.  .  .  .  Modern  editors  usually  substitute  "mine  eye  un- 
true," which  seems  a  permissible  change.  Cf.  114,  3:  "mine  eye  saith  true," 
and  104,  12:  "mine  eye  may  be  deceived."  For  the  like  ambiguity  in  similar 
context  between  "mine"  and  "mine  eye"  see  T.  G.  V.,  II,  iv,  196,  [which 
reads  "Is  it  mine,  or  Valentines  praise,"  but  for  which  Warburton's  reading 
has  been  commonly  accepted:  "Is  it  mine  eye,  or  Valentinus'  praise."]  [The 
usual  defense  of  the  Q  text  seems  to  me  very  lame.  Malone's  parallel  from 
M.  for  M.,  frequently  repeated  after  him,  is  no  real  analogue,  for  the  speech 
there  means  "My  false  utterance  outweighs  your  true  utterance,"  and  it  is 
this  sort  of  use  of  adjective  for  noun  which  is  of  course  familiar  enough.  In  the 
present  line  such  a  use  would  require  that  we  understand  "mind,"  the  noun 
just  used  after  "true,"  to  be  meant  after  "untrue,"  —  "My  true  mind  makes 
my  mind  untrue"  (and  this  is  a  possible  meaning,  if  not  a  probable  one). 
Again,  it  does  not-  seem  to  have  been  sufficiently  considered  that,  even  if  to 
understand  "untrue"  as  "untruthfulness"  were  natural,  the  statement  "My 
true  mind  makes  my  untruthfulness"  would  still  be  difficult  enough.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  emendation  "mine  eye"  is  readily  defensible:  (1)  It  provides 
exactly  the  needed  correspondence  with  line  1;  (2)  the  word  "eye"  may  be 
thought  to  have  been  dropped  out  either  from  a  "reading  by  the  ear,"  as  was 
suggested  by  Collier,  or  from  the  natural  error  of  a  copyist  who  had  just  ended 
a  word  with  the  letter  "e";  (3)  if  "maketh"  was  in  the  original  text,  its  dis- 
syllabic character  would  prevent  the  omission  of  the  word  "eye"  from  being 
brought  to  attention,  or,  if  we  prefer  to  suppose  that  "makes"  was  first  written, 
the  loss  would  naturally  lead  to  its  being  changed  to  the  dissyllabic  form; 
(4)  the  apparently  parallel  error  in  the  text  of  T.  G.  V.  gives  support  to  the 
plausibility  of  the  assumed  error  here.  —  Ed.] 


cxiv]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  271 

114 

Or  whether  doth  my  minde  being  crown 'd  with  you 
Drinke  vp  the  monarks  plague  this  flattery? 
Or  whether  shall  I  say  mine  eie  saith  true, 
And  that  your  loue  taught  it  this  Alcumie? 
To  make  of  monsters,  and  things  indigest,  5 

Such  cherubines  as  your  sweet  selfe  resemble, 
Creating  euery  bad  a  perfect  best 
As  fast  as  obiects  to  his  beames  assemble: 
Oh  tis  the  first,  tis  flatry  in  my  seeing,  9 

And  my  great  minde  most  kingly  drinkes  it  vp, 
Mine  eie  well  knowes  what  with  his  gust  is  greeing, 
And  to  his  pallat  doth  prepare  the  cup. 
If  it  be  poison 'd,  tis  the  lesser  sinne, 
That  mine  eye  loues  it  and  doth  first  beginne. 

2.  this]  his  E. 

3.  saith]  seeth  anon,  conj.,  But. 

6.  cherubines]  cherubims  G2,  S,  E. 

10.  most  kingly]  most  kindly  1640,  G,  S;  kindly  E. 

11.  greeing]  'greeing  G,  etc.  (except  Dy,  Hal,  R,  Bull). 

1.  Or  whether.  Abbott:  "Whether"  is  sometimes  used  after  "or"  where  we 
should  omit  one  of  the  two.   (§  136.) 

2.  Malone:  Cf.  T.  &  C,  II,  iii,  211:  "How  his  silence  drinks  up  this 
applause." 

5.  indigest.  Schmidt:  Chaotic,  formless.   Dowden:  Cf.  2  H.  6,  V,  i,  157: 

Hence,  heap  of  wrath,  foul  indigested  lump, 
As  crooked  in  thy  manners  as  thy  shape. 

6.  cherubines.  Massey:  [Cf.  Prospero  to  Miranda:  "O,  a  cherubin  thou 
wast  that  did  preserve  me";  Timon  of  Phryne,  "For  all  her  cherubin  look."] 
No  man  is  called  a  cherubin  by  Sh.   (p.  28.) 

9.  flatry  in  my  seeing.  Dowden:  Cf.  T.N.,  I,  v,  328:  "Mine  eye  too  great  a 
flatterer  for  my  mind." 

10-14.  [Was  this  image  of  the  cup  and  cup-bearer  suggested  by  the  casual 
phrasing  of  line  2?  It  is  possible,  of  course,  that  it  was  in  mind  from  the  begin- 
ning. —  Ed.] 

11.  his  gust.  Malone:  The  taste  of  my  mind,  greeing.  Rolfe,  [printing 
the  form  without  the  sign  of  abbreviation,  remarks  that  it  is  also  found  in 


272  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cxv 

prose.  Several  examples  may  be  found  in  N.  E.  D.  The  only  such  instance  in 
Sh.,  however,  is  in  the  highly  colloquial  speech  of  Old  Gobbo  (M.V.,  II,  ii, 
108).  —  Ed.  ] 
13.  Steevens:  The  allusion  here  is  to  the  tasters  to  princes. 

115 
Those  lines  that  I  before  haue  writ  doe  lie, 
Euen  those  that  said  I  could  not  loue  you  deerer: 
Yet  then  my  iudgement  knew  no  reason  why, 
My  most  full  flame  should  afterwards  burne  cleerer. 
But  reckening  time,  whose  milliond  accidents  5 

Creepe  in  twixt  vowes,  and  change  decrees  of  Kings, 
Tan  sacred  beautie,  blunt  the  sharp'st  intents, 
Diuert  strong  mindes  to  th'  course  of  altring  things: 
Alas  why  fearing  of  times  tiranie,  9 

Might  I  not  then  say  now  I  loue  you  best, 
When  I  was  certaine  ore  in-certainty, 
Crowning  the  present,  doubting  of  the  rest: 
Loue  is  a  Babe,  then  might  I  not  say  so 
To  giue  full  growth  to  that  which  still  doth  grow. 

2.  Euen]  E'en  S,  E. 

3.  then]  when  L. 

5.  milliond]  million  G,  S,  E. 

7.  intents]  intent  Wa  [error]. 

8.  to  th']  to  the  M,  Kt,  Del,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Cam,  Do,  R,  Wh8,  Ty,  Ox, 
But,  Her,  Be,  N;  f  the  Co,  WhS  Hal. 

10.  now  . . .  best]  Italics  by  M,  A,  Co3,  Hu2;  quoted  by  Kt,  Co1'8,  B,  Hu1, 
Del,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Wh,  Hal,  Cam,  Do,  R,  etc. 

12.  rest:]  rest?  G,  etc. 

13.  not]  Italics  by  Be. 

14.  grow.]  grow?  G,  S,  E,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Kly, 
Wh,  Hal,  Cam,  Do,  R,  Ox,  Her,  N  (not  Tu). 

1-2.  Griffin:  [These  lines  evidently  have  reference]  to  a  non-existent  son- 
net —  or  sonnets.  .  .  .  Such  missing  verse  might,  I  think,  find  a  place  after  85. 
{Eng.  Writers,  11 :  327.) 

4.  flame.  Dowden:  Cf.  109,  2. 

5.  reckening.  [The  loose  construction  here  is  connected,  as  Schmidt  indi- 
cates, with  the  "fearing"  of  line  9.]  milliond.  Schmidt:  Millionfold.  [See 
Abbott's  note  on  "mouthed,"  77,  6.] 


cxvi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  273 

8.  Massey:  The  attempt  of  Essex  to  create  a"  revolution,  or  some  great 
change,  is  unmistakably  meant  [here.]  (p.  213.)  [Massey  evidently  misunder- 
stood the  syntax  of  the  line.  —  Ed.]  Tyler:  Firm  resolutions  are  changed  by 
a  change  of  circumstances.  Cf.  Kami.,  Ill,  ii,  210-11: 

This  world  is  not  for  aye,  nor  't  is  not  strange 

That  even  our  loves  should  with  our  fortunes  change. 

11-12.  Dowden:  Cf.  107,  7. 

13.  a  Babe.  Tyler:  The  poet  may  have  in  view  the  common  representa- 
tions of  Cupid  as  a  child. 

14.  grow.  [See  textual  notes  for  the  punctuation.]  Wyndham:  [A  mark  of 
interrogation]  defeats  the  sense  of  the  whole  sonnet.  The  ictus  or  stress  on 
"not,"  line  13,  (cf.  the  ictus  on  "then"  and  "now"  in  line  10)  shows  that  the 
couplet  refutes  the  argument  of  the  third  quatrain:  it  is  a  contradiction,  not 
a  reiterated  interrogative.  [Wyndham  here  supports  a  sound  contention  by 
partly  worthless  evidence.  The  "ictus"  proves  nothing,  as  it  follows  the  sense; 
this  Beeching  takes  care  of  by  printing  the  word  "not"  in  italics.  —  Ed.] 
Beeching:  Wyndham  has  successfully  vindicated  the  Q  full  stop  at  the  end 
of  the  sonnet.  [To  this  one  would  suppose  that  Rolfe  agrees,  as  in  his  2d  edi- 
tion he  paraphrases  the  last  words  of  line  13,  "I  ought  not  to  have  said  so"; 
his  text,  however,  still  shows  the  interrogation  point.] 

[116] 

Let  me  not  to  the  marriage  of  true  mindes  • 

Admit  impediments,  loue  is  not  loue 

Which  alters  when  it  alteration  findes, 

Or  bends  with  the  remouer  to  remoue; 

O  no,  it  is  an  euer  fixed  marke  5 

That  lookes  on  tempests  and  is  neuer  shaken; 

It  is  the  star  to  euery  wandring  barke, 

Whose  worths  vnknowne,  although  his  higth  be  taken. 

Lou's  not  Times  foole,  though  rosie  lips  and  cheeks         9 

Within  his  bending  sickles  compasse  come, 

Loue  alters  not  with  his  breefe  houres  and  weekes, 

But  beares  it  out  euen  to  the  edge  of  doome: 

If  this  be  error  and  vpon  me  proued, 

I  neuer  writ,  nor  no  man  euer  loued. 

xi6.  Q  reads  "119." 

8.  worths]  north's  Walker  conj.;  width's  Brae  conj.;  orb's  Kinnear  conj. 


274  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cxvi 

2.  impediments.  Dowden:  Cf.  "Form  of  Solemnization  of  Matrimony"  in 
Book  of  Common  Prayer:  "  If  any  of  you  know  cause  or  just  impediment,"  etc. 
Beeching:  A  patent  reference  to  the  language  of  the  Church  of  England  mar- 
riage service,  love  is  not  love.  Steevens:  Cf.  Lear,  I,  i,  241: 

Love 's  not  love 
When  it  is  mingled  with  regards  that  stands 
Aloof  from  the  entire  point. 

4.  remover  to  remove.  Schmidt  [notes  that  both  words  are  intransitive  in 
meaning;  he  paraphrases,  "remove  to  seek  another  love."]  Dowden:  Cf.  25, 
13-14.  [A  comparison  which  should  have  saved  Dowden  from  his  misinterpre- 
tation of  the  latter  passage.  —  Ed.] 

5.  fixed  marke.  Malone:  Cf.  Cor.,  V,  iii,  74:  "Like  a  great  sea-mark, 
standing  every  flaw." 

5-8.  Wyndham:  Cf.  Drayton,  Idea,  S.  43: 

So  doth  the  plowman  gaze  the  wandering  star, 
And  only  rest  contented  with  the  light; 
That  never  learn'd  what  constellations  are, 
Beyond  the  bent  of  his  unknowing  sight. 

[Wyndham  thinks  this  was  "suggested  by"  Sh.'s  sonnet,  (p.  257.)  He  errone- 
ously says  that  it  appeared  first  in  1619;  in  fact  it  was  in  the  Poems  of  1605.  — 
Ed.]  Lee  [views  Shakespeare  as,  in  general,  the  borrower  from  Drayton,  but 
without  discussing  this  particular  sonnet.  (Life,  p.  lion.)  Beeching  (pp. 
137-39)  supports  Wyndham's  view:]  Sh.'s  sonnets  were  not  printed  until  1609, 
and  this  sonnet  of  Drayton's  appeared  in  1605;  but  for  all  that,  if  there  has 
been  borrowing  (and  the  idea  at  a  time  when  planetary  influence  was  still 
believed  in  would  not  have  been  recondite),  I  cannot  hold  with  Mr.  Fleay  and 
Mr.  Lee  that  the  borrower  is  Sh.  If  there  was  borrowing,  surely  Sh.'s  MS. 
would  have  been  as  accessible  to  Drayton  as  (according  to  Mr.  Lee)  Drayton's 
was  to  Sh.  However  this  may  be,  something  very  like  the  same  idea,  in  a  pas- 
sage still  more  like  the  passage  in  Drayton,  occurs  in  L.  L.  L.,  I,  i,  88-91,  the 
date  oC  which  cannot  be  subsequent  to  1598: 

These  earthly  godfathers  of  heaven's  lights 
That  give  a  name  to  every  fixed  star 
Have  no  more  profit  of  their  shining  nights 
Than  those  that  walk  and  wot  not  what  they  are. 

[Elton  {Michael  Drayton,  1905,  p.  57)  is  disposed  to  agree  with  Beeching.  On 
this  matter  see  further  the  notes  to  S.  144,  and  Appendix,  p.  457.] 

8.  Palgrave:  Whose  stellar  influence  is  unknown,  although  his  angular 
altitude  has  been  determined.  Ingleby:  Human  virtue  is  figured  [in  J.C., 
III,  i,  60-61]  under  the  "true-fix'd  and  resting  quality"  of  the  northern  star. 
Surely,  then,  the  "worth"  spoken  of  must  be  constancy.  .  .  .  The  sailor  must 
know  that  the  star  has  this  worth,  or  his  latitude  would  not  depend  upon  its 
altitude.   (The  Soule  Arayed,  p.  5.)  [A  correspondent  of  N.  &  Q.t  (5th  s.,  12: 


cxvi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  275 

24)  signing  himself  "  Bibliothecary,"  proposes  to  understand  "hight"  as  from 
the  old  verb  meaning  "promise,"  etc.,  though  with  exactly  what  significance 
here  he  does  not  make  plain.  The  suggestion  led  to  the  two  notes  that  follow.] 
B.  Nicholson:  One's  whereabouts  at  sea,  or  at  least  one's  latitude,  is  ascer- 
tained by  taking  the  meridian  height  of  a  celestial  body.  ...  In  the  Sta.  Reg. 
I  have  seen  the  entry  of  a  book  giving  the  heights  of  the  stars  for  the  meridian 
of,  I  suppose,  London.  (N.  &  Q.,  6th  s.,  1:  250.)  B.  C:  The  sailor,  in  mere 
routine,  may  take  the  altitude  of  the  Pole  star  with  the  utmost  pains,  .  .  .  yet 
know  nothing  of  its  benign  influences  and  occult  qualities,  (ibid.,  p.  251.) 
A.  E.  Brae  [supports  his  emendation  ("width")  by  the  indisputable  fact  that 
it  is  the  direct  opposite  of  "height,"  and  interprets  it  to  mean  "horizontal  de- 
viation, or  azimuth,"  as  in  the  phrase  "to  go  wide"  (of  the  mark,  etc.;  cf. 
140,  14)].  (Lippincott's  Mag.,  19:  762.)  Dowden:  Schmidt  explains  "un- 
known" here  as  "inexpressible,  incalculable,  immense."  The  passage  seems 
to  mean,  "As  the  star,  over  and  above  what  can  be  ascertained  concerning 
it  for  our  guidance  at  sea,  has  unknowable  occult  virtue  and  influence,  so 
love,  beside  its  power  of  guiding  us,  has  incalculable  potencies."  This  inter- 
pretation is  confirmed  by  the  next  sonnet,  in  which  the  simile  of  sailing  at 
sea  is  introduced.  [Cf.  especially  117,  14.]  .  .  .  "Height,"  it  should  be  ob- 
served, was  used  by  Elizabethan  writers  in  the  sense  of  value,  and  the  word 
may  be  used  here  in  a  double  sense,  altitude  (of  the  star)  and  value  (of  love). 
Kinnear:  See  Hackluyt,  Voyages,  III,  393  (Richardson,  Diet.):  "Where  hav- 
ing taken  the  height  of  the  pole-star,  they  found  themselves  to  be  in  37 
degrees  and  2  of  northerly  latitude."  (Cruces,  p.  501.)  Tyler  [thinks  the 
reference  is  still  to  the  light-house  of  line  5;  a  "star"  only  figuratively.]  Ver- 
ity: [Perhaps  "worth"  may  be  taken  literally:]  The  height,  altitude  of  the 
star  is  known;  but  who  can  tell  what  riches  it  contains?  Wyndham:  A  mysti- 
cal assertion  that,  as  the  unknown  worth  and  occult  influence  of  a  star  is  in 
excess  of  the  practical  service  it  affords  to  mariners,  so  has  love  an  eternal 
value  immeasurably  superior  to  the  accidents  of  time. 

9.  Times  foole.  Malone:  i  H.  4,  V,  iv,  81:  "Thought's  the  slave  of  life, 
and  life  time's  fool."  Schmidt:  Made  a  sport  of  by  time.  Tyler:  Cf.  M.for  M., 
Ill,  I,  II:  "Thou  art  Death's  fool";  R.  &  J.,  Ill,  i,  141:  " I  am  fortune's  fool." 
CL  124,  13.  —  Ed.] 

10.  sickles.  Cf.  12,  13;  60,  12;  100,  14;  123,  14;  126,  2. 
12.  Malone:  Cf.  A.W.,  Ill,  iii,  5-6: 

We  '11  strive  to  bear  it  for  your  worthy  sake 
To  the  extreme  edge  of  hazard. 

Henry  Reed:  If  this  sonnet  was  written  before  [Sh.'s]  dramas,  then  it  was 
the  pregnant  thought  from  which  were  destined  to  spring  those  inimitable  crea- 
tions of  female  character  that  have  been  loved,  as  if  they  were  living  beings,  by 
thousands.  If,  as  is  most  probable,  it  was  written  afterwards,  it  is  Sh.'s  own 
comment,  and  might  be  prefixed  as  a  most  apposite  motto  to  those  dramas  in 
which  he  has  given  life  and  motion  to  the  conception.    (Lectures,  2:  254.) 


276  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE         [cxvn 

Gollancz:  No  long  interval  could  have  separated  R.  &  J.  and  [this  sonnet,] 
the  poet's  epitaph  for  the  golden  tomb  raised  to  the  lovers  by  their  loveless  kin, 
—  the  very  epitome  of  all  the  songs  and  stories  of  romantic  passion  that  we 
have  heard  or  read.  (Intro.,  p.  xii.)  Herford:  [This  sonnet]  is  the  intellectual 
focus  of  the  entire  series.  (Intro.,  p.  378.)  [In  like  manner,  in  my  introduction 
to  the  Tudor  edition,  I  have  called  S.  116  the  "thematic  terminus"  of  the  col- 
lection. —  Ed.] 

117 

Accuse  me  thus,  that  I  haue  scanted  all, 

Wherein  I  should  your  great  deserts  repay, 

Forgot  vpon  your  dearest  loue  to  call, 

Whereto  al  bonds  do  tie  me  day  by  day, 

That  I  haue  frequent  binne  with  vnknown  mindes,  5 

And  giuen  to  time  your  owne  deare  purchas'd  right, 

That  I  haue  hoysted  saile  to  al  the  windes 

Which  should  transport  me  farthest  from  your  sight. 

Booke  both  my  wilfulnesse  and  errors  downe,  9 

And  on  iust  proofe  surmise,  accumilate, 

Bring  me  within  the  leuel  of  your  frowne, 

But  shoote  not  at  me  in  your  wakened  hate: 

Since  my  appeale  saies  I  did  striue  to  prooue 

The  constancy  and  virtue  of  your  loue 

6.  time]  them  Sta  conj.,  But.        deare  purchas'd]  Hyphened  by  S1,  M,  etc. 

7.  saile]  sails  G2,  S2,  E. 

8.  farthest]  furthest  Ox. 

9.  errors]  err  our  1640;  error  G,  S,  E. 

10.  proofe  surmise,]  proof,  surmise  M,  A,  B,  Ty;  proof  surmise  Kt,  Co,  Del, 
Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Wh,  Cam,  Do,  R,  Ox,  Wy,  etc. 
13.  I  didj  /  did  not  B. 

Walsh  [places  this  sonnet  between  109  and  no,  with  which  it  is  naturally 
allied  in  theme.] 

1.  scanted.  Schmidt:  Afforded  sparingly. 

4.  M alone:  Cf.  R.  2,  IV,  i,  76-77: 

There  is  my  bond  of  faith, 
To  tie  thee  to  my  strong  correction. 

5.  frequent.  Schmidt:  Conversant,  intimate,   unknown  mindes.   Schmidt: 
Minds  such  as  I  should  be  ashamed  to  mention.   Dowden:  Persons  who  may 


cxvn]         THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  277 

not  be  known,  or  obscure  persons.  Beeching:  People  of  no  interest  or  impor- 
tance. [Cf.  R.  3,  I,  ii,  218:  "For  divers  unknown  reasons,"  which  Schmidt  inter- 
prets as  "reasons  such  as  I  must  not  tell,"  but  which  Beeching  takes  simply 
as  "insignificant  reasons."] 

6.  time.  Dowden:  Society,  the  world;  cf.  70,  6.  Or,  given  away  to  tempo- 
rary occasion  what  is  your  property  and  therefore  an  heirloom  for  eternity. 
Tyler  [is  disposed  to  favor  Staunton's  proposed  emendation  "them."]  Wynd- 
ham:  Time  is  the  personified  object  of  the  whole  argument  (1-125),  and  ap- 
pears as  such  in  the  two  preceding  sonnets  (115,  9  and  116,  9).  [See  the  notes 
on  the  same  word  in  70,  6,  especially  Beeching's,  for  his  interpretation  here.] 
Porter:  Those  emotions  that  had  only  transient  worth  and  temporary  claim 
upon  him.  deare  purchas'd.  Tyler:  Though  it  is  not  pleasant  to  attach  a 
material  signification  to  these  words,  yet,  taking  into  account  what  is  recorded 
of  Lord  Pembroke's  liberality  towards  men  of  genius,  it  seems  not  unlikely 
that  there  is  an  allusion  to  previous  presents. 

9-10.  Beeching  [cites  these  lines,  and  lines  9-10  in  the  following  sonnet,  as 
examples  of  an  "abstract  way  of  writing,"  characteristic  of  the  period  of  T.  &  C. 
(Intro.,  p.  lii.)] 

11.  level.  Schmidt:  Direction  [of  a  weapon.]  Wyndham:  Cf.  L.C,  22: 
"Level'd  eyes." 


278  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE        [cxvm 

118 
Like  as  to  make  our  appetites  more  keene 
With  eager  compounds  we  our  pallat  vrge, 
As  to  preuent  our  malladies  vnseene, 
We  sicken  to  shun  sicknesse  when  we  purge. 
Euen  so  being  full  of  your  nere  cloying  sweetnesse,  5 

To  bitter  sawces  did  I  frame  my  feeding; 
And  sicke  of  wel-fare  found  a  kind  of  meetnesse, 
To  be  diseas'd  ere  that  there  was  true  needing. 
Thus  pollicie  in  loue  t'anticipate  9 

The  ills  that  were,  not  grew  to  faults  assured, 
And  brought  to  medicine  a  healthfull  state 
Which  rancke  of  goodnesse  would  by  ill  be  cured. 
But  thence  I  learne  and  find  the  lesson  true, 
Drugs  poyson  him  that  so  fell  sicke  of  you. 

1.  to  make  our]  you  make  your  G2,  S2,  E. 

5.  nere  cloying]  neare  cloying  1640;  near  cloying  G,  S,  E;  ne'er-cloying  Th 
conj.,  C,  M,  etc. 

7.  meetnesse]  meekness  G2,  S2,  E. 

8.  there  was  true]  that  was  truly  G2. 

9.  t'anticipate]  to  anticipate  C,  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Del,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Cam, 
Do,  R,  Ty,  Ox,  But,  Her,  Be,  N. 

10.  were,  not]  were  not,  G,  etc. 

2.  eager.  Steevens:  Sour,  tart. 

5.  nere  cloying.  Walsh:  Cf.  A.  &  C,  II,  ii,  241-43: 
Other  women  cloy 
The  appetites  they  feed,  but  she  makes  hungry 
Where  most  she  satisfies. 
5-8.  Krauss:  Cf.  Sidney,  Arcadia: 

Like  those  sick  fellows,  in  whom  strange  humours  flow, 
Can  taste  no  sweets,  the  sour  only  please.  .  .  . 
Bitter  griefs  taste  me  best,  pain  is  my  ease, 
Sick  to  the  death,  still  loving  my  disease. 

(Jahrb.,  16:  175.) 

9.  pollicie.  Dowden:  Prudent  management  of  affairs. 

10.  Miss  Porter  [alone  would  keep  the  comma  after  "were":]  The  ills  that 
were  ...  did  not  have  the  chance  to  "grow  to  faults  assured." 


cxix]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  279 

12.  rancke.  Steevens:   Cf.  A.  &   C,  V,  ii,  212:  "Rank  of  gross  diet." 
Schmidt:  Sick  (of  hypertrophy). 

Massey:  [With  this  language  of  a  repentant  lover  cf.  M.  N.  D.,  IV,  i,  177- 

79:1 

But  like  a  sickness  did  I  loathe  this  food; 
But,  as  in  health,  come  to  my  natural  taste, 
Now  I  do  wish  it,  love  it,  long  for  it. 


119 

What  potions  haue  I  drunke  of  Syren  teares 
Distil'd  from  Lymbecks  foule  as  hell  within, 
Applying  feares  to  hopes,  and  hopes  to  feares, 
Still  loosing  when  I  saw  my  selfe  to  win? 
What  wretched  errors  hath  my  heart  committed,  5 

Whilst  it  hath  thought  it  selfe  so  blessed  neuer? 
How  haue  mine  eies  out  of  their  Spheares  bene  fitted 
In  the  distraction  of  this  madding  feuer? 
O  benefit  of  ill,  now  I  find  true  9 

That  better  is,  by  euil  still  made  better. 
And  ruin'd  loue  when  it  is  built  anew 
Growes  fairer  then  at  first,  more  strong,  far  greater. 
So  I  returne  rebukt  to  my  content, 
And  gaine  by  ills  thrise  more  then  I  haue  spent. 

1.  potions]  potion  G2. 
4.  loosing]  losing  G,  etc. 

7.  Spheares]  sphere  G2.  bene  fitted]  been  flitted  Lettsom  conj.,  Massey 
conj.;  e'en  flitted  Hu  conj. 

13.  rebukt]  rebuke  1640,  G,  S,  E. 

14.  ills]  ill  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Wh,  Hal,  Cam, 
R,  Ox,  Wy,  But,  Her,  Bull,  Wa. 

Tyler:  It  is  probable  that  we  are  here  brought  close  to  the  causes  of  the 
scandal  to  which  112  and  121  relate. 

I.  Syren.  Beeching:  The  siren  would  seem  to  be  the  lady  of  the  sonnets 
[at  the  end  of  the  collection.]  Rolfe:  The  wily  tears  of  seductive  women. 

1-2.  Lee:  [This  exordium]  adopts  expressions  in  Barnes's  vituperative  son- 
net (No.  49),  where,  after  denouncing  his  mistress  as  a  "siren,"  the  poet  inco- 


280  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cxix 

herently  ejaculates:  "From  my  love's  limbeck  [have  I]  still  stilled  tears!"  {Life, 
p.  I52n.) 

2.  Lymbecks.  Schmidt:  Alembics,  stills,  foule  as  hell.  Tyler:  Cf.  131, 13 
and  147,  14. 

4.  Dowden:  Either  "losing  in  the  very  moment  of  victory,"  or  "gaining 
victories  (of  other  loves  than  those  of  his  friend)  which  were  indeed  but  losses." 
Beeching:  The  contrast  of  line  5  with  line  6  shows  that  the  latter  is  the  more 
probable  sense. 

7.  fitted.  M alone:  Convulsed  during  the  frantic  fits  of  my  feverous  love. 
[Cf.  Macb.,  Ill,  iv,  21:  "Then  comes  my  fit  again."]  Steevens:  We  meet  in 
Hamlet  [I,  v,  17]  the  same  image  as  here:  "  Make  thy  two  eyes,  like  stars,  start 
from  their  spheres."  Staunton:  Started,  as  by  paroxysms.  [He  compares 
Per.,  II,  i,  58,  "If  it  be  a  day  fits  you,"  apparently  understanding  "fits"  in  a 
cognate  sense.]  Schmidt:  Worked  by  paroxysms.  Dowden:  Started  from  their 
hollows  in  the  fever  fits  of  my  disease.  [The  N.  E.  D.  accepts  this  traditional 
gloss,  without  noting  any  parallel.]  Massey:  [This]  must,  I  apprehend,  be  a 
misprint  for  "flitted,"  the  word  that,  above  all  others,  signified  a  "moving" 
or  removal  to  the  Scotch  mind.  .  .  .  Cf.  Fairfax's  Tasso  (5,  58):  "Alas,  that 
cannot  be,  for  he  is  flit  out  of  this  camp."  .  .  .  Puttenham  calls  the  figure  me- 
tastasis the  "flitting  figure,"  or  the  Remove.  The  meaning  of  the  line  is,  how 
have  my  eyes  been  moved  out  of  their  spheres.  Cf.  Cymb.,  V,  v,  371:  "After 
this  strange  starting  from  your  orbs."  (p.  185.)  Hudson:  I  strongly  suspect 
.  .  .  "e'en  flitted."  This  would  give  us  something  very  like  a  passage  in  Lu- 
crece  [line  461]:  "Who,  angry  that  the  eyes  fly  from  their  lights."  Wyndham: 

"Fit"  sometimes  =  a  sudden  emission.  Cf.  Coleridge:  "A  tongue  of  light, 
a  fit  of  flame."  [Malone's  interpretation  is  supported  by  a  line  noted  by 
Mr.  Horace  Davis,  in  Barnes's  Parthenophil,  2d  Madrigal:  "I  for  thee  fever 
scorched,  yet  thou  still  fitless."] 

8.  madding  fever.  Tyler:  Cf.  147,  1,  9-10. 

10.  McClumpha:  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  I,  ii,  46-49:  "One  fire  burns  out  another's 
burning,"  etc. 

11.  Dowden:  Note  the  introduction  of  the  metaphor  of  rebuilt  love,  reap- 
pearing in  later  sonnets.  Cf.  C.  of  E.,  Ill,  ii,  4:  "Shall  love,  in  building,  grow 
so  ruinate";  and  A.  &  C,  III,  ii,  29-30:  "The  cement  of  our  love,  to  keep  it 
builded."   [These  parallels  had  been  noted  by  Malone.] 

11-12.  Furnivall:  [This  doctrine]  was  also  put  into  Tennyson's  Princess, 
in  its  "  Blessings  on  the  falling-out,  that  all  the  more  endears";  but  was  rightly 
taken  out  again.   (Intro.,  p.  lxv.) 

14.  ills.  [The  alteration  to  "ill"  is  defended,  by  some  editors,  by  a  reference 
to  line  9.] 

Massey:  The  confession  [made  in  this  sonnet]  can  only  have  been  made  to 
a  woman.   It  would  have  no  meaning  from  a  man  to  a  man.   (p.  197.) 


cxx]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  281 

120 

That  you  were  once  vnkind  be-friends  mee  now, 
And  for  that  sorrow,  which  I  then  didde  feele, 
Needes  must  I  vnder  my  transgression  bow, 
Vnlesse  my  Nerues  were  brasse  or  hammered  Steele. 
For  if  you  were  by  my  vnkindnesse  shaken  5 

As  I  by  yours,  y  'haue  past  a  hell  of  Time, 
And  I  a  tyrant  haue  no  leasure  taken 
To  waigh  how  once  I  suffered  in  your  crime. 
O  that  our  night  of  wo  might  haue  remembred  9 

My  deepest  sence,  how  hard  true  sorrow  hits, 
And  soone  to  you,  as  you  to  me  then  tendred 
The  humble  salue,  which  wounded  bosomes  fits! 
But  that  your  trespasse  now  becomes  a  fee, 
Mine  ransoms  yours,  and  yours  must  ransome  mee. 

6.  y'haue]  you  have  C,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del1'2,  Kly,  Wh1,  Hal;  you've  Hu, 
Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Cam,  Del3,  Do,  R,  Wh2,  Ox,  But,  Her,  Be,  N. 

7.  tyrant]  truant  Sta  conj. 

9.  our]  sour  Sta  conj.;  one  or  your  Be  conj. 

11.  soone]  shame  Sta  conj.  me  then]  me,  then  C,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Hu1,  Del, 
Dy1,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Wh,  Hal,  Cam,  Do,  R,  Ox,  Wy,  Her,  N,  Wa;  me  then,  Walker 
conj.,  Sta,  Dy2,  Hu2,  But,  Be,  Bull. 

12.  bosomes]  bosom  M1. 

13.  that .  .  .  becomes]  let  .  .  .  become  Massey  conj. 

Cf.  Sonnets  34-35,  and  note. 

I.  once  unkind.  Walsh:  "Thy  unkindness"  is  mentioned  in  139,  2  (where, 
however,  it  seems  to  be  general),  and  "thy  trespass"  in  35,  6.  The  present  line 
may  refer  to  one  of  these,  or  to  the  "cloud,"  in  33  and  34,  or  to  the  quarrel  in 
57  and  58,  or  to  something  else. 

4.  Nerves.  [In  this  context  it  is  perhaps  prudent  to  recall  that  "nerves"  for 
Sh.  meant  sinews  or  muscular  strength;  the  physical  figure  of  "bow"  is  con- 
tinued. —  Ed.] 

5-6.  Furnivall:  Cf.  Coleridge  [Christabel]: 

And  to  be  wroth  with  one  we  love 
Doth  work  like  madness  in  the  brain. 

(Intro.,  p.  Ixv.) 


282  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cxx 

6.  a  hell  of  Time.  Malone:  Cf.  Oth.,  Ill,  iii,  169-70: 

But  O,  what  damned  minutes  tells  he  o'er 

Who  dotes,  yet  doubts,  suspects,  yet  soundly  loves! 

And  Lucrece,  1287:  "And  that  deep  torture  may  be  call'd  a  hell." 

9.  our  night.  Tyler:  On  that  former  occasion.  The  expression  "night  of 
woe"  may  be  metaphorical,  though  it  is,  of  course,  possible  that  reference  may 
be  made  to  some  particular  night.  Wyndham:  Clearly  refers  to  some  one  occa- 
sion of  great  sorrow,  well-known  to  the  friend  and  to  the  poet,  which  the  friend 
"once"  caused  by  his  "crime,"  but  for  which  he  "soon  tendered"  the  fitting 
salve.  Beeching:  [The  reading  "our"]  is  impossible,  as  it  spoils  the  antithesis 
of  "you"  and  "me,"  which  runs  all  through  the  sonnet.  Emendation  is  diffi- 
cult because  it  is  uncertain  whether  "that"  is  demonstrative  or  conjunctive. 
I  incline  to  the  former  supposition,  as  the  effect  of  the  line  seems  purposely 
repeated  below  in  line  13,  and,  if  so,  we  may  accept  Staunton's  conjecture  of 
"sour,"  or  read  "one"  (from  the  "once"  in  the  preceding  line).  If  "that"  is  a 
conjunction,  I  can  only  suggest  "your"  for  "our,"  and  suppose  that  the  poet 
means,  "Would  that  in  some  mystical  way  your  night  of  woe  had  communi- 
cated itself  to  my  deepest  (subliminal)  sense,  and  reminded  it,"  etc.  Rolfe: 
Probably  metaphorical  (that  dark  and  woful  time),  remembred.  Malone: 
Cf.  R.  2,  III,  iv,  14:  "It  doth  remember  me  the  more  of  sorrow." 

10.  deepest  sence.  Hudson:  As  Hamlet  expresses  it,  "my  heart  of  heart." 

11.  me  then.  Walker:  Surely  the  sense  requires  [the  punctuation  "me 
then,  tender'd."]  [The  rhythm  is  surely  more  agreeable  if  one  can  find  it  satis- 
factory to  put  the  comma  after  "me";  but  in  22,  10  we  have  a  similar  logical 
pause  after  the  eleventh  syllable.  —  Ed.] 

12.  salve.  Dowden:  Cf.  34,  7. 

13.  a  fee.  Tyler:  Something  which  I  can  offer  as  a  payment  and  ransom 
for  my  own  offence. 

[See  Bradley's  note  at  the  end  of  S.  109.] 


cxxi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  283 

121 

Tis  better  to  be  vile  then  vile  esteemed, 
When  not  to  be,  receiues  reproach  of  being, 
And  the  iust  pleasure  lost,  which  is  so  deemed, 
Not  by  our  feeling,  but  by  others  seeing. 
For  why  should  others  false  adulterat  eyes  5 

Giue  salutation  to  my  sportiue  blood? 
Or  on  my  frailties  why  are  frailer  spies ; 
Which  in  their  wils  count  bad  what  I  think  good? 
Noe,  I  am  that  I  am,  and  they  that  leuell  9 

At  my  abuses,  reckon  vp  their  owne, 
I  may  be  straight  though  they  them-selues  be  beuel 
By  their  rancke  thoughtes,  my  deedes  must  not  be  shown 
Vnlesse  this  generall  euill  they  maintaine, 
All  men  are  bad  and  in  their  badnesse  raigne. 

1.  vile  esteemed]  Hyphened  by  Walker  conj.,  Del,  Sta,  Hu2. 
3.  pleasure]  pleasure's  S. 

5.  false  adulterat]  Hyphened  by  Walker  conj.,  Sta,  Dy2,  Hu2. 
.14.  All .  .  .  raigne]  Italics  by  Be.       raigne]  feign  But. 

Jordan:  [This  sonnet]  seems  to  me  to  indicate  that  already  the  poet  had 
learned  that  there  were  in  circulation  unworthy  suspicions  such  as  the  sonnets 
have  frequently  aroused  among  later  critics.  Isaac:  No  one  is  directly  ad- 
dressed: it  is  a  soliloquy  of  the  poet,  in  which  he  makes  light  of  the  slanders 
of  evil  men  and  makes  himself  tranquil.  Regarding  the  nature  of  the  slanders 
we  can  reach  the  general  conclusion,  from  the  words  "adulterate  eyes,"  that 
it  had  some  relation  to  galanterie.  .  .  .  Our  knowledge  goes  no  further.  (Archiv, 
59:  270.)   [See  Tyler's  note  on  112,  2.] 

3-4.  Dowden:  And  the  legitimate  pleasure  lost,  which  is  deemed  vile,  not 
by  us  who  experience  it,  but  by  others  who  look  on  and  condemn.  Wyndham: 
And  the  lawful  pleasure  lost,  which  is  judged  vile  from  the  point  of  view  of 
others  and  not  from  any  sense  of  shame  on  our  part.  Beeching:  The  poorer 
by  a  pleasure,  which  is  the  vileness  they  mean,  though,  maybe,  we  should  not 
so  reckon  it. 

6.  Give  salutation.  Isaac:  I  believe  that  we  must  go  back  to  the  old  Ger- 
manic significance  of  this  verb,  which  appears  in  M.  H.  G.  "gruoz"  and  still 
in  the  English  "greet "  in  Sh.,  i.e.,  meet  in  an  optional  sense,  either  friendly  or 


284  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cxxi 

hostile;  ...  it  is  the  whole  character  of  the  meeting,  in  which  is  reflected  the  im- 
pression which  the  one  greeted  has  made  upon  the  one  greeting.  .  .  .  [Cf.  T.  &  C, 
III,  iii,  108:  "Eye  to  eye  opposed  Salutes  each  other  with  each  other's  form"; 
where  there  is  the  same  meaning  as  here,  viz.,  "reflects  the  impression  which 
has  been  made  on  the  one  saluting,"  and  which  in  this  case  is  indicated  by  the 
word  "adulterate."]  The  translation  of  Jordan  is  excellent: 

Des  Ltistlings  Auge  griisst  mit  frechem  Hohne 
In  mir  ein  ihm  verwandtes  wildes  Blut. 

(Archiv,  59:  271.) 

Schmidt:  Affect  in  any  manner  (gratify  or  mortify).  [Cf.  H.  8,  II,  iii,  103: 
"Would  I  had  no  being,  if  this  salute  my  blood  a  jot";  and  "greet"  in  Per.,  IV, 
iii,  38:  "It  greets  me  as  an  enterprise  of  kindness."]  Tyler:  Take  account  of 
and  criticise.  Herford:  Affect,  stir.  Beeching:  Affect,  stir,  and  so  infect. 
Lee:  Stir  (by  greeting)  or  stimulate.  [It  is  evident  that  the  interpretation  of 
the  phrase  here  is  largely  a  matter  of  guess-work.  What  we  should  expect 
would  be  something  like  "pass  judgment  on"  or  "interpret  in  an  unfriendly 
manner";  but  neither  of  these  meanings  appears  to  be  warranted  by  what  is 
said.  I  cannot  find  the  meaning  "stir"  or  "affect"  plausible;  for  it  is  not  a 
question  of  the  writer's  sensual  nature  being  stirred  or  affected  by  his  critics; 
still  less  can  I  understand  Beeching's  "infect."  Isaac's  reading  seems  really 
more  rational  than  that  of  any  later  commentator,  though  there  is  no  need  to 
reach  the  interpretation  by  so  complicated  a  linguistic  process.  "Salute,"  for 
Sh.,  commonly  meant  the  giving  of  an  emphatic  greeting  appropriate  to  the 
relations  of  the  persons  concerned,  —  especially  that  of  a  king  to  a  subject  or 
the  reverse.  May  it  not  therefore  mean  here,  "hail  as  a  prince  of  adultery  like 
themselves,"  or,  perhaps,  "as  a  greater  prince"?  —  a  case  of  the  beam  saluting 
the  mote.  —  Ed.]  sportive.  Tyler:  My  somewhat  warm  nature.  Rolfe: 
Amorous,  wanton.  [Cf.  notes  on  95,  6.  Gildemeister  glosses,  "  Verzeihliche 
Temperamentssunden."]  Mr.  Horace  Davis  [suggests  that  the  line  may 
mean,  "Give  my  blood  the  name  of  sportive  (wanton)."] 

8.  wils.  Isaac:  Inclinations.  [Cf.  "ill-will."]  (Archiv,  59:  271.)  Dowden: 
According  to  their  pleasure.  Lee:  Cf.  57,  13. 

9.  I  am  that  I  am.  Tyler:  With  all  my  frailties,  but  yet  not  without  some- 
thing of  good.  Mackail:  These  words  are  in  effect  Sh.'s  single  and  final  self- 
criticism.  They  are  almost  appalling  in  their  superb  brevity  and  concentrated 
insight;  beside  them  even  the  pride  of  Milton  dwindles  and  grows  pale;  for 
here  Sh.,  for  one  single  revealing  moment,  speaks  not  as  though  he  were  God's 
elect,  but  as  though  he  were  God  himself.  (Lect.  on  Poetry,  p.  196.)  [One  may 
enjoy  this  eloquent  note,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  without  being  carried  off  his  feet  by 
it.  The  context  shows  that  all  Sh.  says  is,  "I  have  an  independent  standard 
of  character,  and  when  others  do  not  find  theirs  fitting  it,  the  crookedness 
(line  11)  may  be  theirs."  —  Ed.]  levell.  Schmidt:  Aim.   [Cf.  117,  11.] 

10.  reckon.  Walsh:  [Apparently  subjunctive,]  —  "let  them  reckon."  [Most 
readers,  I  am  sure,  take  it  as  indicative,  explained  by  the  following  line:  "their 


cxxi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  285 

faults  begin  to  appear  for  reckoning  (enumeration),  in  their  very  act  of  attack- 
ing mine."  —  Ed.] 

11.  bevel.  Steevens:  Crooked;  a  term  used  only,  I  believe,  by  masons  and 
joiners.  [The  N.  E.  D.  gives  no  other  example  of  its  adjective  use,  with  this 
meaning,  earlier  than  1677.]  Wyndham:  The  sense  is  rather  "oblique"  than 
"crooked." 

12.  Beeching:  Cf.  69,  10.  rank.  Rolfe:  Cf.  69,  12.  Tyler:  This,  as  well 
as  preceding  expressions,  shows  that  the  charge  brought  against  the  poet 
involved  sensuality. 

14.  raigne.  Schmidt:  Exult  in,  are  made  happy  by.   [Cf.  R.  J,  IV,  iv,  53: 

That  excellent  grand  tyrant  of  the  earth, 
That  reigns  in  galled  eyes  of  weeping  souls.] 

Butler  [reading  "feign":]  I  can  make  no  sense  of  [the  Q  text.]  The  sense  I 
take  to  be,  "  I  am  not  judged  by  the  rank  thoughts  of  these  men,  unless,  indeed, 
they  are  prepared  to  admit  that  all  men  are  bad,  but  pretend  to  be  better  than 
they  are."  Beeching:  I  have  marked  the  whole  line  [as  a  quotation]  as  the 
theory  of  the  "spies."  But  the  sense  of  "reign"  is  not  clear.  .  .  .  Perhaps  it 
means  "what  makes  'kings  of  men'  is  but  a  higher  degree  of  badness." 

L.  A.  J.  Burgersdijk  [{Jahrb.,  14:  363)  interprets  this  sonnet  as  an  attack 
on  the  Puritans:]  If  one  conceives  that  here  the  dramatic  poet  and  actor, 
despised,  interfered  with,  slandered,  persecuted,  by  the  Puritans,  hurls  a  son- 
net against  his  bitter  foes,  everything  becomes  clear.  In  this  time,  he  says, 
gradually  dominated  by  Puritanism,  it  would  be  better  to  be  bad,  than  to 
belong  to  a  profession  defamed  as  bad.  These  pious  or  pietistic  people  spoiled 
his  pleasure  [line  3],  which  was  considered  bad  by  some  spectators  ("by  others' 
seeing");  the  attendants  on  the  theatre,  who  applauded  his  humour  [line  6], 
were  depraved  ("adulterate")  in  the  judgment  of  these  weak  spirits.  But  the 
poet  maintains  his  position;  he  believes  that  the  stage  is  chiefly  hated  because 
it  holds  up  a  mirror  before  these  people  [line  10],  and  considers  itself  as  straight 
(the  exact  epithet  for  the  Puritans)  as  they,  —  at  least  unless  they  are  right  in 
their  thesis  that  humanity  and  all  its  deeds  are  evil.  .  .  .  [The  sonnet  would  be 
well  placed  near  S.  29],  where  doubtless  the  poet  is  also  speaking  of  his  despised 
profession.  [Burgersdijk's  theory  is  supported  and  developed  by  von  Mauntz 
(Anglia,  19:  291),  who  makes  a  new  translation  of  the  sonnet,  in  which  he 
renders  "sportive  blood"  as  frohnatur.] 

Horace  Davis:  I  am  inclined  to  think  the  charge  against  which  Sh.  defends 
himself  was  inconstancy;  this  is  the  general  subject  from  109  to  125.  In  109,11, 
pleading  that  he  was  not  "false  of  heart,"  he  speaks  of  his  apparent  disloyalty 
to  his  friend  as  his  "stain,"  resulting  from  his  frailties;  here  he  uses  the  same 
expression  (line  7). 


286  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE         [cxxn 

122 

TThy  guift,,  thy  tables,  are  within  my  braine 

Full  characterd  with  lasting  memory, 

Which  shall  aboue  that  idle  rancke  remaine 

Beyond  all  date  euen  to  eternity. 

Or  at  the  least,  so  long  as  brarne  and  heart  5 

Haue  facultie  by  nature  to  subsist, 

Til  each  to  raz'd  obliuion  yeeld  his  part 

Of  thee,  thy  record  neuer  can  be  mist : 

That  poore  retention  could  not  so  much  hold,  9 

Nor  need  I  tallies  thy  deare  loue  to  skore, 

Therefore  to  giue  them  from  me  was  I  bold, 

To  trust  those  tables  that  receaue  thee  more, 

To  keepe  an  adiunckt  to  remember  thee, 

Were  to  import  forgetfulnesse  in  mee. 

2.  lasting]  a  lasting  G1,  S,  E. 

Tyler:  [A  present  of  tablets]  the  poet  had,  probably  during  the  period  of 
separation,  -given  away  to  some  other  person  —  perhaps  after  writing  99, 
thinking  that  the  breach  was  final.  Von  Mauntz  [suggests  that  the  tablets 
may  have  contained  some  of  the  sonnets,  and  that  the  reference  is  to  the  time 
when  Sh.  had  allowed  them  to  pass  into  other  hands.  (Gedichte,  p.  152.)] 
Rolfe:  Cf.  S.  77,  where  a  similar  present  to  his  friend  is  mentioned.  Miss 
Porter  [takes  the  tables  as  allegorical,  referring  to  the  personality  of  the  friend, 
as  first  presented  and  impressed  upon  the  poet.]  These  tables  of  memory  are 
now,  through  the  psychical  effect  of  ripened  love  within  the  poet,  transcended 
by  a  finer  memorial  to  which  the  first  contributed. 

Lee:  [The  sonnet]  repeats  something  of  Ronsard's  phraseology;  .  .  .  cf.  Am- 
ours, livre  178;  Amours  pour  Astree,  6.  The  latter  opens: 

II  ne  falloit,  maistresse,  autres  tablettes 
Pour  vous  graver  que  celles  de  mon  coeur 
Ou  de  sa  main  Amour,  nostre  vainqueur, 
Vous  a  gravee  et  vos  graces  parfaites. 

(Life,  p.  112.) 

1.  TThy.  The  T  in  ordinary  type  is  repeated  after  the  large  initial,  tables. 
Walsh:  "Tables"  appear  to  have  been  small  note-books  with  glossy  leaves, 
or  tablets,  on  which  notes  could  temporarily  be  jotted  down  and  again  erased. 


cxxn]         THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  287 

[Cf.  Bacon,  New  Atlantis,  where  is  mentioned  a  scroll]  "shining  like  the  leaves 
of  writing  tables,  but  otherwise  soft  and  flexible";  .  .  .  2  H.  4,  IV,  i,  201: 
"Therefore  will  he  wipe  his  tables  clean." 

1-2.  Malone:  Cf.  Haml.,  I,  v,  98-99,  102-03: 

Yea,  from  the  table  of  my  memory 
I  '11  wipe  away  all  trivial  fond  records,  .  .  . 
And  thy  commandment  all  alone  shall  live 
Within  the  book  and  volume  of  my  brain; 

T.  G.  V.,  II,  vii,  3-4: 

Who  art  the  table  wherein  all  my  thoughts 
Are  visibly  character'd  and  engrav'd. 

3.  idlerancke.  Schmidt:  Unprofitable  degree  of  dignity.  [Cf.  32, 12;  85, 12.] 
Dowden:  Poor  dignity.  Beeching:  Useless  series  of  leaves;  [or  Dowden  may 
be  right.]  Lee:  The  dignity  of  such  humble  objects.  [For  "rank"  in  the  mean- 
ing proposed  by  Beeching,  which  I  am  disposed  to  favor,  cf.  A.  Y.  L.,  IV,  iii, 
80:  "  Rank  of  osiers."  —  Ed.] 

9.  poore  retention.  Malone:  The  table-book,  .  .  .  incapable  of  retaining, 
or  rather  of  containing,  so  much  as  the  tablet  of  the  brain. 

10.  tallies.  Schmidt:  Sticks  on  which  notches  or  scores  are  cut,  to  keep 
accounts  by. 

[Von  Mauntz  takes  this  to  be  the  last  of  the  Southampton  sonnets,  marking 
the  moment  of  a  second  and  lasting  estrangement.] 


288  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE        [cxxm 

123 

No!  Time,  thou  shalt  not  bost  that  I  doe  change, 
Thy  pyramyds  buy  It  vp  with  newer  might 
To  me  are  nothing  nouell,  nothing  strange, 
They  are  but  dressings  of  a  former  sight : 
Our  dates  are  breefe,  and  therefor  we  admire,  5 

What  thou  dost  foyst  vpon  vs  that  is  ould, 
And  rather  make  them  borne  to  our  desire, 
Then  thinke  that  we  before  haue  heard  them  tould  : 
Thy  registers  and  thee  I  both  dene,  9 

Not  wondring  at  the  present,  nor  the  past, 
For  thy  records,  and  what  we  see  doth  lye, 
Made  more  or  les  by  thy  continuall  hast: 
This  I  doe  vow  and  this  shall  euer  be, 
I  will  be  true  dispight  thy  syeth  and  thee. 

11.  doth]  do  M2,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Kly,  Wh1,  Hal,  Ty. 
14.  thee.]  thee;  M,  Co,  Del1.2,  Hal;  thee:  A,  Kt,  Del3,  Ty. 

[For  the  reappearance  here  of  the  "doctrine  of  cycles,"  see  notes  on  S.  59. 
Lee  remarks  of  the  present  sonnet:]  Sh.  takes  a  bolder  position,  though 
again  his  intellectual  courage  evaporates  when  in  face  of  the  inevitable  con- 
clusion, and  he  weakly  makes  escape  through  an  emotional  commonplace. 
(Qu.  Rev.,  210:  470.) 

1.  Wyndham:  This  apostrophe  opens  the  peroration  to  the  poet's  attack 
on  Time. 

2.  Jordan  [takes  this  to  be  a  figurative  expression  for  persons  who  have 
attained  to  places  of  power  and  influence  formerly  held  by  others;  written  soon 
after  the  fall  of  Essex.]  Dowden:  I  think  this  is  metaphorical;  all  that  Time 
piles  up  from  day  to  day,  all  his  new  stupendous  erections,  are  really  but  "dress- 
ings of  a  former  sight."  Is  there  a  reference  to  the  new  love,  the  "ruined  love 
built  anew"  (S.  119),  between  the  two  friends?  The  same  metaphor  appears 
in  the  next  sonnet  [line  5],  and  again  in  [125,  3].  Does  Sh.  mean  here  that  this 
new  love  is  really  the  same  with  the  old  love;  he  will  recognize  the  identity  of 
new  and  old,  and  not  wonder  at  either  the  past  or  present?  Tyler:  ["Pyra- 
mids" is]  to  be  understood  of  anything  grand  or  stupendous.  Herford:  "All 
that  Time  piles  up  from  day  to  day,"  new  structures  of  event.  Beeching: 
The  new  pyramids  are  any  modern  marvels  which  seem  to  defy  change.  For 


cxxm]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  289 

"pyramid"  in  this  general  sense,  cf.  Macb.,  IV,  i,  57:  "Though  palaces  and 
pyramids  do  slope  their  heads." 

4.  dressings  of  a  former  sight.  Wyndham:  Repetitions  of  ante-natal  experi- 
ence. Rolfe:  "Dressings"  =  ornamental  repetitions.  Lee:  Here  Sh.  draws 
further  on  that  doctrine  of  the  indestructibility  of  matter  in  spite  of  its  out- 
ward mutability  which  Ovid  expounds  in  his  Metam.,  bk.  xv.  [Cf.  the  passage 
from  Golding's  translation,  quoted  under  S.  59,  and  further:] 

No  kind  of  thing  keeps  aye  his  shape  and  hue: 
For  nature  loving  ever  change  repairs  one  shape  anew 
Upon  another,  neither  doth  there  perish  aught  (trust  me) 
In  all  the  world,  but  alt'ring  takes  new  shape. 

5-6.  Beeching:  We  are  so  short-lived  that  we  take  for  novelty  what  is 
really  a  new  dressing  of  what  is  old. 

7-8.  Dowden:  We  choose  rather  to  think  such  things  ["what  thou  dost 
foist,"  etc.]  new,  and  specially  created  for  our  satisfaction,  than,  as  they  really 
are,  old  things  of  which  we  have  already  heard.  Tyler:  Prefer  to  regard -them 
as  really  new,  just  "born."  Wyndham:  Assuming  these  lines  to  refer  to  what 
Time  "foists  upon  us,"  [Tyler's  and  Dowden's  explanations  are  the  best  to  be 
got.]  But  this  reference  of  "them"  to  "what,"  followed  by  a  singular  "that  is," 
can  hardly  be  sustained  grammatically,  and  it  scarce  makes  sense.  ...  I  sug- 
gest that  the  plural  "them"  refers  grammatically  to  the  plural  "dates,"  and 
that  the  word  usually  printed  "born"  in  line  7  had  best  be  printed  "borne"  as 
it  is  in  the  Q  (=  bourn;  borne,  French,  and  in  Hamlet).  We  make  our  brief 
dates  into  a  bourn  or  limit  to  our  desire  (cf.  "confined  doom,"  107,  4),  instead 
of  recollecting  that  "we  have  heard  them  told"  (  =  reckoned)  before.  (Intro., 
p.  cxxix.) 

11.  records.  Rolfe:  Sh.  accents  the  noun  on  either  syllable,  as  may  suit 
the  measure.   Cf.  55,  8. 

12.  Hudson:  Time's  record  of  things  is  made  big  or  little,  to  suit  his  swiftly 
changing  occasions,  and  without  any  regard  to  what  the  things  are  in  them- 
selves. Beeching:  [All  the  works  of  Time]  grow  and  decay,  as  he  passes  on  his 
rapid  course.  [The  latter  interpretation  is  doubtless  the  right  one.  With  "more 
or  less,"  cf.  64,  8.  —  Ed.] 

Massey  [believes  this  sonnet  was  written  when  Southampton  was  imprisoned 
in  the  Tower,  after  the  Essex  rebellion,  and  takes  the  "pyramids"  to  represent 
"the  prison-house  of  Time."   (p.  204.)] 


290  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE        [cxxiv 

I24 

Yf  my  deare  loue  were  but  the  childe  of  state, 

It  might  for  fortunes  basterd  be  vnfathered, 

As  subiect  to  times  loue,  or  to  times  hate, 

Weeds  among  weeds,  or  flowers  with  flowers  gatherd. 

No  it  was  buylded  far  from  accident,  5 

It  suffers  not  in  smilinge  pomp,  nor  falls 
*      Vnder  the  blow  of  thralled  discontent, 

Whereto  th'inuiting  time  our  fashion  calls: 

It  feares  not  policy  that  Heriticke,  9 

Which  workes  on  leases  of  short  numbred  howers, 

But  all  alone  stands  hugely  pollitick, 

That  it  nor  growes  with  heat,  nor  drownes  with  showres. 
To  this  I  witnes  call  the  foles  of  time, 
Which  die  for  goodnes,  who  haue  liu'd  for  crime. 

8.  th'inuiting]  the  inviting  C,  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Del,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  R,  Wh2,  Ty,  Ox, 
Cam2,  But,  Her,  Be,  N.       our]  or  C. 

10.  short  numbred]  Hyphened  by  C,  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl, 
Kly,  Cam,  Co3,  R,  Wh2,  Ty,  Wy,  But,  Her,  Be,  N,  Bull,  Wa. 

12.  nor  growes]  not  grows  M1;  nor  dries  C;  nor  glows  Stee  conj.,  Kly;  nor 
droops  Be  conj. 

13.  foles  of  time]  fooles  of  time  1640;  fools  of  time  G,  etc.  (except  But);  souls 
oftime  But. 

1.  Tyler:  [This  expression]  is  at  least  consistent  with  the  supposition  that 
the  poet  was  thinking  of  Essex  and  the  dignities  he  attained,  (p.  25.)  [Schmidt 
glosses  "state"  as  "splendour";  Rolfe  as  "rank";  Dowden  renders  "child  of 
state"  as  "born  of  place  and  power";  on  the  other  hand,  Wyndham,  Butler, 
BEECHiNG,and  Lee  understand  "state"  asaccident  or  circumstance  ("circum- 
stances of  nature  or  fortune,"  says  Beeching,  "explained  by  '  accident '  in  line  5  "). 
For  the  divergent  meanings,  cf .  64, 9  and  96, 12.]  Gollancz  [explains  the  line  as 
an  allusion  to  Southampton's  having  been,  as  Lord  Burleigh's  ward,  a  "child  of 
state,"  —  brought  up  under  the  Queen.  (See  his  note  on  line  7.)  He  does  not, 
however,  mean  that  the  word  "love"  refers  to  the  friend,  as  Archer  under- 
stands, and  takes  pains  to  point  out  is  impossible.  (Fort.  Rev.,  ri.s.,  62:  820.)] 
Acheson  [finds  an  allusion  here  to  a  passage  in  Chapman's  Achilles' s  Shield: 


cxxiv]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  291 

Far  above 
Their  tympanies  of  state  [i.e.,  Sh.'s  sonnets],  that  arms  of  love, 
Fortune,  or  blood  shall  lift  to  dignity. 

(Sh.  &  the  R.P.,  p.  158.)] 

Beeching:  The  friend  must  have  been  some  one  whose  friendship  the  poet 
might  be  charged  with  cultivating  for  the  sake  of  the  good  fortune  it  might 
bring.  It  would  not  have  been  worth  while  to  say  that  his  love  did  not  suffer 
"in  smiling  pomp,"  if  pomp  had  no  relation  to  his  friend.    (Intro.,  p.  xxxi.) 

2.  unfathered.  Schmidt:  As  not  born  in  the  natural  way.  Wyndham:  Dis- 
inherited in  favour  of  any  other  effect  of  Time  and  Chance.  Beeching:  With- 
out a  true  father,  being  begotten  by  Time  upon  Fortune,  and  so  subject  to  his 
caprices.  A  bastard  was  filius  nullius. 

3-4.  Dowden:  Subject  to  Time's  hate,  and  so  plucked  up  as  a  weed;  or  sub- 
ject to  Time's  love,  and  so  gathered  as  a  flower. 

5.  accident.  Schmidt:  Casualty,  chance.  [Cf.  115,  5.]  Wyndham:  A  term 
of  metaphysic:  his  love  belongs  to  the  absolute  and  unconditioned,  to  Eternity 
and  not  to  Time.  (Intro.,  p.  cxxix.)  [I  fear  (or  rejoice)  that  there  is  no  evidence 
of  Sh.'s  using  the  word  in  its  metaphysical  sense.  —  Ed.] 

7.  thralled.  Abbott:  Sometimes  passive  participles  are  used  as  epithets  to 
describe  the  state  which  would  be  the  result  of  the  active  verb.  (§374-)  Tyler: 
The  expression  "thralled  discontent"  seems  to  suit  perfectly  the  state  of 
things  after  the  rebellion  [of  Essex,]  if  we  take  the  word  "  thralled  "  as  referring 
to  the  severe  measures  by  which  the  rebellion  had  been  put  down,  and  by  which 
discontent  was  still  restrained.  (Intro.,  pp.  25-26.)  Gollancz:  [The  phrase] 
may  perhaps  refer  to  the  growing  feelings  of  discontent  [about  1598]  which 
were  ultimately  to  find  expression  in  insane  revolt.  ...  On  Nov.  22,  1598, 
Southampton  returned  from  the  continent;  "for  his  welcome,"  we  read,  "he 
is  committed  to  the  Fleet."  .  .  .  Though  his  friend,  "the  child  of  state,"  has 
suffered  Fortune's  spite,  the  poet's  love,  being  no  child  of  state,  fears  no  policy, 
and  knows  no  change.    (Intro.,  p.  xix.) 

7-8.  Dowden:  When  time  puts  us,  who  have  been  in  favour,  out  of  fashion. 
J.M.:  The  time  referred  to  is  unmistakably  that  after  the  accession  of  James; 
and  the  gunpowder  plot  is  such  a  remarkable  instance  of  a  plot  to  strike  a 
"blow  of  thralled  discontent,"  .  .  .  that  in  all  probability  [it]  supplied  Sh.  with 
his  figure,  (p.  80.)  Beeching:  I  suspect  the  main  reference  here  is  to  the  Jesuit 
intrigues,  "the  blow  of  thralled  discontent"  being  the  Powder  Plot.  Lee:  A 
possible  vague  allusion  to  the  social  and  political  unrest  which  distinguished 
alike  the  last  decade  of  Elizabeth's  reign  and  the  first  decade  of  James  I's  reign. 
Unemployment  and  Catholic  plots  against  the  throne  were  the  chief  causes  of 
disquiet.  The  former  source  of  "discontent,"  which  produced  much  agrarian 
disturbance,  might  well  bear  the  epithet  "thralled."  [It  will  perhaps  caution  us 
against  rash  inferences  respecting  the  date  of  such  a  passage,  if  we  remind  our- 
selves how  pertinent  to  any  year  of  the  last  ten  —  or  twenty  —  a  reference 
in  contemporary  literature  to  "these  troubled  and  discontented  times"  has 


292  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE         [cxxiv 

seemed,  and  how  utterly  at  a  loss  posterity  must  be  to  identify  such  allusions 
with  precision.  —  Ed.] 

9.  policy  that  Heriticke.  Dowden:  The  prudence  of  self-interest,  which  is 
faithless  in  love.  [Cf.  R.  &  J.,  I,  ii,  95,  where  Romeo  calls  unfaithful  eyes 
"transparent  heretics."]  Lee:  "Policy"  means  intrigue,  underhand  dealing. 
There  is  a  possible  reference  to  the  short-sighted  political  intrigues  of  the 
"heretic"  Papists. 

10.  Massey  suspects  here  "an  ominous  hint "  at  the  age  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 

11.  hugely  pollitick.  Hudson:  Organized  or  knit  together  in  a  huge  polity 
or  state.  Dowden:  Love  itself  is  infinitely  prudent.  Tyler:  "Politic"  seems 
here  equivalent  to  self-sufficing,  desiring  no  increase  or  extension,  and  fearing 
no  enemies,  like  a  well-ordered  city  or  state.  Cf.  M.  Ado,  V,  ii,  63-64:  "So 
politic  a  state  of  evil  that  they  will  not  admit  any  good  part  to  intermingle  with 
them."  Wyndham:  An  independent  and  self-sufficing  state.  (Intro.,  p. 
cxxx.)    Beeching:  Vastly  wise  and  prescient. 

12.  Steevens:  Though  a  building  may  be  drown'd,  i.e.,  deluged  by  rain,  it 
can  hardly  grow  under  the  influence  of  heat.  I  would  read  glows.  M alone: 
Our  poet  frequently  starts  from  one  idea  to  another.  Though  he  had  compared 
his  affection  to  a  building,  he  seems  to  have  deserted  that  thought;  and  here, 
perhaps,  meant  to  allude  to  the  progress  of  vegetation,  and  the  accidents  that 
retard  it.  [Cf.  15,  1-2,  5-6.]  Beeching:  The  image  is  ...  of  a  great  tree  which 
neither  sunshine  nor  storm  can  affect  and  which  cannot  be  cut  down.  ...  If 
[the  line]  is  meant  to  be  parallel  to  line  6,  we  want  instead  of  "grows"  a  word  to 
repeat  "suffers,"  such  as  "droops,"  which  alliteration  suggests.  For  the 
printer's  error  of  g  for  d,  cf.  144,  6,  "sight"  for  "side."  [Beeching  might  have 
supported  his  suggestion  further  by  citing  2  H.6,U,  iii,  45:  "Thus  droops  this 
lofty  pine."  —  Ed.] 

13-14.  Steevens:  Perhaps  this  is  a  stroke  at  some  of  Fox's  Martyrs. 
Massey:  The  allusion  is  no  doubt  more  particularly  directed  to  Essex  and  his 
companions,  who  had  died  so  recently.  .  .  .  The  "fools  of  time"  may  give  us 
the  poet's  estimate  of  Essex's  attempt.  He  was  one  of  those  who  had  lived  to 
reach  the  criminal's  end,  but  who  "died  for  goodness"  in  the  sense  that  he,  like 
Danvers,  died  devoutly,  and  took  leave  of  life  with  a  redeeming  touch  of  noble- 
ness. Essex  was  also  popularly  designated  "the  good  Earl."  (p.  207.)  Simpson: 
[The  "fools  of  time"]  may  be  conspirators;  .  .  .  but  they  may  be  also  politic 
friendships,  which  subsist  only  for  selfish  ends,  and  die  in  an  atmosphere  of 
truth  and  honour,  false  loves  as  distinguished  from  that  true  one  of  which  he 
sings  in  S.  116.  (p.  80.)  Dowden:  [The  lines  perhaps  mean:]  I  call  to  witness 
the  transitory  unworthy  loves  (fools  of  time  =  sports  of  time;  cf.  116,  9),  whose 
death  was  a  virtue  since  their  life  was  a  crime.  Hudson:  Exceedingly  obscure. 
[Perhaps  the  meaning  is:]  Those  fools  who  make  as  if  they  would  die  for  virtue 
after  having  devoted  their  lives  to  vice.  Sharp:  I  summon  those  very  detrac- 
tors, those  fools  of  a  season,  who,  though  they  have  lived  to  my  harm,  will  thus 
ultimately  still  further  cement  our  love.  Tyler:  These  expressions  ...  be- 
come intelligible  when  considered  as  referring  to  Essex  and  his  companions, 


cxxiv]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  293 

and  to  the  consequences  of  the  rebellion.  The  "fools  of  Time"  are  those  whom 
Time  does  what  he  pleases  with,  now  raising  them  to  the  highest  dignities,  and 
now  bringing  them  down  to  the  scaffold.  .  .  .  The  conspiracy  and  rebellion  are 
evidently  alluded  to  in  the  "living  for  crime,"  while  in  the  "dying  for  good- 
ness" we  may  recognise  with  equal  facility  an  ironical  allusion  to  the  popular 
regard  for  Essex,  after  his  execution,  as  the  "good  earl."  (p.  26.)  Von  Mauntz 
[curiously  interprets  "  foles  "  in  an  active  rather  than  a  passive  sense,  paraphras- 
ing:] Those  who  snap  their  fingers  at  Time,  and,  although  they  are  wholly  bad 
men,  yet  (under  such  a  government)  pass  as  good  to  the  moment  of  their  death. 
Wyndham:  [Line  14  means:]  Who  are  so  much  the  dupes  of  Time  that  they 
attach  importance  to  the  mere  order  of  sequence  in  which  events  occur,  and 
believe  that  a  death-bed  repentance  can  cancel  a  life  of  crime.  ...  [In  this  son- 
net,] developing  the  idea  of  mutations  in  fortune,  Sh.  glances  aside  at  some  con- 
temporary reverse  in  politics  or  art  which  we  cannot  decipher.  It  may  have 
been  the  closing  of  the  theatres,  the  censorship  of  plays,  the  imprisonment  of 
Southampton  or  of  Herbert.  No  one  can  tell,  nor  does  it  matter,  for  the  main 
meaning  is  clear:  namely,  that  this  absolute  Love  is  outside  the  world  of  poli- 
tics, which  are  limited  by  Time,  and  count  on  leases  of  short  numbered  hours. 
(Intro.,  p.  cxxx.)  Butler  [defending  his  emendation  "souls  oftime":]  Sh. 
would  never  call  a  man  a  fool  for  dying  well  after  living  ill,  and  there  is  no 
relevancy  in  calling  such  persons  to  bear  witness  to  the  fact  that  Sh.'s  love  for 
Mr.  W.  H.  was  not  subject  to  vicissitudes.  ...  I  take  the  emended  passage  to 
mean,  "If  I  have  been  inconstant,  nothing  can  shake  me  further;  in  witness 
whereof  I  call  the  souls  of  those  whose  repentance  even  after  a  life  of  crime  has 
been  often  genuine."  Beeching:  I  believe  the  allusion  here  is  to  the  Jesuit 
conspirators  whose  object  in  life  was  to  murder  the  king,  and  who  when  caught 
posed  as  martyrs  for  the  faith.  Such  inconstancy  of  principle  would  justify  the 
poet  in  calling  them  "the  fools  of  time "  and  pointing  his  moral  with  them.  The 
moral  is  that  "Love  is  the  only  true  policy."  Stopes:  [Line  14  means:]  Who 
die  for  one  good  deed,  after  having  lived  a  lifetime  of  evil.  Lee:  Penitent 
traitors,  who  expiated  their  crimes  with  piety  on  the  scaffold.  The  words  would 
apply  to  any  political  or  religious  conspirator  against  the  throne  who  suffered 
capital  punishment  in  Sh.'s  day.  All  met  their  death  with  prayer  and  pious 
courage.  To  this  fact  the  poet  ironically  directs  attention  by  way  of  indicating 
that  their  lives,  unlike  his  unalterable  affection,  were  profitless  because  they 
were  inconstant.  Porter:  Those  who,  trusting  to  external  favors,  build  upon 
them  or  upon  policy,  instead  of  relying  on  their  own  inner  steadfastness,  are 
the  fools  of  time.  Followers  of  occasion  or  change,  they  assume  to  be  good 
(or  bad)  to  serve  private  ends,  and  they  are  sure  to  be  cheated  by  the  ironies 
of  life;  those,  finally,  being  sentenced  for  such  goodness  to  die  who  have  lived 
all  their  lives  by  means  of  their  crimes.  Brandl:  [The  passage  is  strikingly 
suggestive  of  the  Essex  conspiracy.  The  next  sonnet  refers  to  the  same  subject, 
and  promises  the  fallen  friend  the  poet's  fidelity,  (p.  xxii.)]  [It  is  pleasant  to 
conclude  with  the  annotation  of  Rolfe:]  The  reference  is  hopelessly  obscure, 
and  I  shall  add  no  attempt  to  explain  it. 


294  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cxxv 

Beeching  [notes  the  style  of  the  sonnet  as  of  Sh.'s  more  abstract  character. 
(Intro.,  p.  lii.)   See  note  on  117,  9-10.] 

Mackail:  [The  phrasing  of  this  sonnet  is  singularly  applicable  to  the  sonnet 
collection  and  its  fortune.  For  two  hundred  years  the  volume  seemed  as  though 
"It  might  for  Fortune's  bastard  be  unfathered,"]  the  illegitimate  issue  of  the 
press  of  a  thievish  publisher,  little  regarded,  little  mentioned  for  either  praise 
or  blame.  But  for  the  next  hundred  years  which  are  now  expiring  the  words  in 
which  that  sonnet  goes  on  are  as  strikingly  applicable:  "No,  it  was  builded  far 
from  accident."   (Led.  on  Poetry,  p.  180.) 

125 
Wer't  ought  to  me  I  bore  the  canopy, 
With  my  extern  the  outward  honoring, 
Or  layd  great  bases  for  eternity, 
Which  proues  more  short  then  wast  or  ruining? 
Haue  I  not  seene  dwellers  on  forme  and  fauor  5 

Lose  all,  and  more  by  paying  too  much  rent 
For  compound  sweet;  Forgoing  simple  sauor, 
Pittifull  thriuors  in  their  gazing  spent. 
Noe,  let  me  be  obsequious  in  thy  heart,  9 

And  take  thou  my  oblacion,  poore  but  free, 
Which  is  not  mixt  with  seconds,  knows  no  art, 
But  mutuall  render,  onely  me  for  thee. 

Hence,  thou  subbornd  Informer,  a  trew  soule 
When  most  impeacht,  stands  least  in  thy  controule. 

1.  Wer't]  Were  it  M,  A,  B,  Kly.  Wer't ...  me]  Where  it  ought  to  be 
[with  question  mark  omitted]  G2,  S2,  E. 

2.  the]  thy  or  thee  Sta  conj. 

4.  proues]  prove  G2,  S2,  E,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Kly, 
Wh,  Hal,  Cam,  Do,  R,  Ox,  Her,  Be. 

6-7.  rent  For  compound  sweet;]  rent,  For  compound-sweet,  S1;  rent,  For  com- 
pound sweet  M1,  A,  Kt,  B,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Cam,  Do,  Hu2,  R,  Wh2,  Ty, 
Ox,  Her,  Be,  Wa,  Tu;  rent;  For  compound  sweet  C,  M2,  Co,  Del,  Hu1,  Wh1,  Hal; 
rent?  For  compound  sweet  But;  rent,  For  compound  sweet ;  Bull.  Foregoingl 
foregoing  G,  S,  E,  M  (not  Bo),  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del1.  *,  Hu1,  Dy,  CI,  Kly,  Wh1, 
Hal,  Cam1,  Do,  R,  Ty,  Ox,  Wy,  Bull. 

8.  gazing]  gaining  Sta  conj.,  But.       spent.]  spent?  C,  M,  etc. 

11.  seconds]  seasonings  Bulloch  conj. 

12.  render]  renders  But. 


cxxv]         THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  295 

1.  Wer't.  Beeching:  "Would  it  be."  Commentators  have  ignored  the  fact 
that  the  verb  here  is  conditional;  and  so  they  have  not  seen  that  the  poet  is 
repudiating  charges  laid  against  him  by  the  "informer"  of  line  13.  The  charges 
are  of  caring  too  much  for  his  friend's  beauty  and  laying  upon  that  a  basis  for 
eternity,  bore  the  canopy.  Massey:  [The  speaker]  is  a  person  who  has  borne 
the  canopy  of  state,  as  a  lord  in  waiting.  That  is  not  Sh.  (p.  95.)  Staunton: 
[An  allusion  to]  some  pageant  in  which  the  writer's  friend  had  played,  or  might 
befittingly  play,  the  leading  part.  .  .  .  "Would  it  have  availed  me  aught  if  I 
had  paid  homage  to  your  personal  dignity  by  assisting  to  carry  the  canopy  over 
you?"  (Ath.,  March  14,  1874,  P-  357-)  Hudson:  Perhaps  the  meaning  is, 
"Were  it  of  any  consequence  to  me  that  I  walked  at  the  Queen's  side,  and  car- 
ried the  canopy  over  her  royal  head,  if  I  honoured  only  her  outward  form  with 
mere  external  observances?"  Dowden:  Rendered  outward  homage,  as  one 
renders  who  bears  a  canopy  over  a  superior.  The  metaphor  was  not  so  far- 
fetched in  Sh.'s  day  as  it  would  be  in  ours.  [He  instances  several  occasions  when 
canopies  were  conspicuous  in  royal  progresses.]  Tyler:  [Figurative;  meaning 
that  the  poet's  relations  with  Southampton]  have  been  a  "bearing  the  canopy," 
an  "outward  honouring,"  a  "gazing"  on  his  "extern."  [See  note  on  line  13.] 
Wyndham:  The  word  may  contain  an  allusion  to  some  one  of  the  many  alle- 
gories current  among  the  cultivated  court  circle  of  that  day.  ...  In  a  letter 
from  Francis  Beaumont  to  Anne  Fytton  .  .  .  you  read:  "In  which  conceite  of 
mine  .  .  .  your  own  preatie  stoarie  of  the  Canopy,  and  myne  of  Timantes  for 
covering  affectiones  with  curtaines  may  be  my  all  sufficient  warrant."  ( Gossip 
from  a  Muniment  Room,  1897.)  Butler:  There  is  a  reference  to  the  bearing 
of  a  certain  canopy,  apparently  on  some  very  great  occasion,  over  some  great 
personage:  Sh.  seems  either  to  have  had  some  part  in  the  bearing  of  this  canopy, 
which  had  given  rise  to  ill-natured  remarks,  or  else  to  have  been  maliciously 
foiled  in  an  attempt  to  be  included  among  the  bearers.  [He  is  disposed  to  think 
that  the  occasion  is  the  progress  of  the  Queen  to  St.  Paul's,  Nov.  24,  1588.] 
(p.  112.)  Creighton:  [The  passage]  recalls  some  great  funeral  at  which  Sh. 
had  borne  the  canopy,  perhaps  that  of  Pembroke's  father  in  Salisbury  Cathedral 
[January  1601.]  {Blackwood's,  169:  843.)  Beeching:  A  symbol  of  outward 
honour.  Rolfe:  On  the  15th  of  March,  1604,  when  James  made  a  formal 
march  from  the  Tower  to  Westminster,  the  nine  actors  (including  Sh.)  to  whom 
he  had  granted  a  special  license  to  perform  in  London  and  the  provinces,  were 
in  the  royal  train.  .  .  .  Whether  the  actors  "bore  the  canopy"  on  this  occasion 
I  find  no  record;  but  I  doubt  whether  there  is  a  reference  to  it  here.  H.  Pem- 
berton  [(New  Shakespeareana,  8:  61),  following  a  suggestion  made  by  the 
Rev.  W.  Begley,  in  Is  it  Sh.  (p.  231),  argues  for  the  identification  of  this  can- 
opy with  that  carried  over  the  queen  by  a  number  of  noblemen,  among  whom 
was  William  Herbert,  on  the  occasion  of  the  marriage  of  Mistress  Anne  Russell, 
June  16,  1600.]  Dowden  [parries  these  efforts  to  date  the  sonnet  by  means  of 
contemporary  allusions  with  this  admirable  reductio  ad  absurdum:]  I  am  per- 
suaded that  Sonnet  125  ..  .  was  actually  written  by  Sh.  in  Dublin  in  the  year 
1885,  shortly  after  the  visit  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  to  the  Irish  capital The 


296  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE         [cxxv 

sonnet  is,  indeed,  packed  full  of  allusions  to  the  events  of  that  period.  There 
is  the  reference  to  the  practice  of  boycotting  tenants  who,  servile  to  the  aris- 
tocracy, had  paid  their  full  rents  [lines  5-6].  There  is  a  clear  reference  to  the 
inability  of  the  crown  to  obtain  convictions  through  its  paid  and  perjured 
witnesses  [lines  13-14]-  If  it  be  remembered  that  the  Prince  of  Wales  laid  the 
foundation  stones  for  a  new  museum  and  a  national  library,  there  can  be  no 
obscurity  in  the  line  "Or  laid  great  bases  for  eternity";  while  the  canopy  under 
which  His  Royal  Highness  stood  on  that  occasion  is  expressly  mentioned  in 
line  1.  .  .  .  The  word  "heretic"  in  the  preceding  sonnet,  and  the  reference  to 
"leases  of  short  numbered  hours,"  manifestly  applies  to  the  Protestant  land- 
lords, whose  days  were  now  numbered.  (Academy,  Jan.  30,  1886,  pp.  67-68.) 
2.  Steevens:  Cf.  Oth.,  I,  i,  61: 

When  my  outward  action  doth  demonstrate 
The  native  act  and  figure  of  my  heart 
In  compliment  extern. 

[The  N.  E.  D.  gives  no  other  instance  of  the  noun  "extern"  in  this  meaning  of 
"exterior,  outward  appearance."]  Wyndham:  Honouring  outward  beauty  with 
public  praise  (cf.  69,  5);  but,  as  I  hold,  with  a  larger  philosophic  suggestion,  in 
the  manner  of  the  time,  and  in  pursuance  of  the  argument  in  the  two  preceding 
sonnets,  viz.  that  the  poet's  love  is  esoteric  and  eternal. 

3-4.  Dowden:  The  love  of  the  earlier  sonnets,  which  celebrated  the  beauty 
of  Sh.'s  friend,  was  to  last  forever,  and  yet  it  has  been  ruined.  Tyler:  The 
reference  is  probably  to  the  Dedication  to  the  Lucrece:  "The  love  I  dedicate  to 
your  Lordship  is  without  end,"  etc. 

4.  proves.  See  textual  notes.  Tyler:  It  is  the  anticipated  "eternity" 
which  "proves  more  short"  than  ruin.  Wyndham:  It  is  safest  to  preserve  the 
Q  text.  .  .  .  The  sense  here  seems  to  be:  "or  ostentatiously  claimed  an  eternity 
for  my  panegyrics, :which  eternity  proves  short-lived  as  'waste  or  ruining.'  " 
[No  interpretative  explanation  is  necessary  for  "proves,"  as  the  ending  in  -s 
for  the  plural  is  sufficiently  familiar.  See  note  on  41,  3.  —  Ed.] 

5.  favor.  Cf.  113,  10. 

6.  and  more.  Dowden:  Through  satiety  even  grow  to  dislike. 

6-7.  See  textual  notes  on  punctuation.  Wyndham:  I  preserve  the  punctu- 
ation of  Q,  emphasized,  as  it  is,  by  a  capital  after  the  semicolon.  .  .  .  The 
"dwellers  on  form  and  favour"  are  "eternizers,"  with  their  "extern  the  out- ' 
ward  honoring"  to  secure  "eternity"  by  their  public  panegyrics.  .  .  .  The 
"compound  sweet"  for  which  they  pay  too  much  rent  is  their  "couplement  of 
proud  compare,"  21,  5;  their  "false  painting,"  67,  5;  "false  art,"  68,  14; 
"strained  touches,"  82,  10;  "comments  of  praise  .  .  .  golden  quill"  and  "well- 
refined  pen,"  85,  2-8.  .  .  .  For  these  laboured  tributes  to  outward  beauty  they 
forego  the  "simple  savor,"  i.e.,  the  simple  appreciation  of  true  affection.  [This 
is  ingenious,  but  quite  superfluous  for  all  who  have  less  reverence  than  Wynd- 
ham for  the  Q  printer's  semicolons  and  capitals. —  Ed.] 

8.  Staunton:  [Without  the  change  of  "gazing"  to  "gaining,"  the  line]  is 


cxxv]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  297 

sheer,  unmitigated  nonsense.  (Ath.,  Dec.  6,  1873,  p.  732.)  Beeching:  Their 
love  was  a  mere  matter  of  "gazing,"  and  so  it  was  all  expense  without  return, 
which  is  "  pitiful  thriving,"  i.e.,  bad  business.  [This  is  much  better  than  Rolfe's 
explanation  of  "pitiful  thrivers"  as  "to  be  pitied  even  when  successful."  —  Ed.] 

9.  obsequious.  Hudson:  Mourned  or  lamented.  [A  wholly  unwarranted 
gloss.  —  Ed.]     Dowden:  Zealous,  devoted. 

10.  oblacion.  Wyxdham:  Cf.  Drayton,  Idea,  S.  54: 

Receive  the  incense  which  I  offer  here,  .  .  . 
My  soul's  oblations  to  thy  sacred  name. 

11.  seconds.  Steevens:  I  am  just  informed  by  an  old  lady  that  "seconds" 
is  a  provincial  term  for  the  second  kind  of  flour,  which  is  collected  after  the 
smaller  bran  is  sifted.  That  our  author's  oblation  was  pure,  unmixed  with 
baser  matter,  is  all  that  he  meant  to  say.  Dyce  [(Aldine  ed.)  calls  Steevens's 
note  "preposterously  absurd."]  Knight:  [Steevens]  mentions  the  flour,  as  in 
almost  every  other  note  upon  the  Sonnets,  to  throw  discredit  upon  composi- 
tions with  which  he  could  not  sympathize.  He  had  a  sharp,  cunning,  petti- 
fogging mind;  and  he  knew  many  prosaic  things  well  enough.  He  knew  that  a 
second  in  a  duel,  a  seconder  in  a  debate,  a  secondary  in  ecclesiastical  affairs, 
meant  one  next  to  the  principal.  The  poet's  friend  has  his  chief  oblation;  no 
seconds,  or  inferior  persons,  are  mixed  up  with  his  tribute  of  affection.  [Stee- 
vens's explanation  is  accepted  bodily  by  Schmidt,  and  by  recent  editors  pretty 
generally.]  Wyndham:  May  not  "seconds"  mean  "assistants"  and  refer  to 
the  collaboration  of  the  two  poets  in  83?  It  can  hardly  mean  "baser  matter"; 
since  the  contrast  is  between  an  offering  humble,  poor,  and  without  art,  and 
some  other  offering  presumably  rich  and  artificial,  such  as  the  verse  of  the  rival 
poets.  (Intro.,  p.  cxxxii.)  Beeching:  The  word  "oblation"  suggested  the 
simplest  form  of  offering  in  the  Levitical  code,  —  a  cake  of  meal;  and  this  sug- 
gested the  use  of  the  word  "seconds."  Rolfe:  For  the  figure  I  may  add  the 
familiar  household  one  of  "bolted"  (sifted,  like  flour),  which  Sh.  uses  of  per- 
sons (H.  5,  II,  ii,  137)  and  of  language  (Cor.,  Ill,  i,  322).  ...  He  has  many 
other  metaphors  equally  "vulgar,"  as  Blair  and  certain  other  rhetoricians, 
trained  in  the  school  of  Pope,  call  them.  Lee:  Cf.  Sir  Christopher  Hatton, 
[who],  writing  to  Queen  Elizabeth  in  Nov.  1591,  bids  her  "sift  the  chaff  from 
the  wheat  so  that  the  corn  of  your  commonwealth  would  be  more  pure,  and 
mixt  grains  would  less  infect  the  sinews  of  your  surety."  (Nicolas's  Life, 
p.  497.)  Miss  Porter  [rejects  Steevens's  note  as  irrelevant,  and  explains  "not 
mixt  with  seconds"  as:]  Not  dependent  upon  the  assistance  of  others,  either 
by  imitation  or  favor. 

12.  render.  Schmidt:  Surrender.  [Cf.  Cymb.,  V,  iv,  17:  "Take  no  stricter 
render  of  me  than  my  all."]  only  me  for  thee.  Tyler:  Alluding  probably  to 
the  fiction  of  an  exchange  of  hearts  (Sonnets  22,  24).  Massey:  [With  the  whole 
line  cf.  Posthumus  to  his  wife  (Cymb.,  I,  i,  119):  "As  I  my  poor  self  did  ex- 
change for  you,"  and  Claudio  to  Hero  (M.  Ado.,  II,  i,  319):  "Lady,  as  you  are 
mine,  I  am  yours.   I  give  away  myself  for  you  and  dote  upon  the  exchange."] 


298  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cxxv 

13.  Informer.  Simpson:  [Perhaps  a  spy  to  whose  treachery  was  due  the 
collapse  of  the  "great  bases"  of  line  3.  (p.  80.)]  Dowden:  Does  this  refer  to 
an  actual  person,  one  of  the  spies  of  121,  7-8?  Or  is  the  "informerV  Jealousy, 
or  Suspicion?  as  in   V.  &  A.,  655: 

This  sour  informer,  this  bate-breeding  spy,  .  .  . 
This  carry-tale,  dissentious  Jealousy. 

Massey:  Camden  tells  us  that  amongst  the  confederates  of  Essex,  one  of  them, 
whilst  in  prison,  turned  informer,  and  revealed  what  had  taken  place  at  the 
meetings  held  in  the  Earl  of  Southampton's  house.  [Here,  therefore,  South- 
ampton, supposed  to  be  speaking,  flings  his  disdain  at  the  informer.]  (p.  209.) 
Tyler  [believes  that  this  informer  had  hinted  that  Sh.  was  unfaithful  to  the 
court  party  because  of  his  early  connection  with  Southampton.  He  implicitly 
denies  that  he  had  ever  been  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  either  Essex  or  South- 
ampton. (Intro.,  pp.  31-32.)]  Wyndham:  This  word  of  violent  apostrophe 
refers  to  some  person  whose  identity  was  obvious  to  the  object  of  Sh.'s  verse. 
...  It  may  be  compared  to  the  "frailer  spies"  of  S.  121.  (Intro.,  p.  cxxxii.) 
Butler  [assuming  that  the  friend  is  still  addressed:  ]  I  can  see  no  way  of  recon- 
ciling the  fierceness  of  these  [two  lines]  with  the  desire  for  reconciliation  ex- 
pressed in  the  preceding  lines.  The  transition,  however,  is  almost  as  abrupt 
in  the  closing  lines  of  Sonnets  147-148.  Beeching:  This  is  the  false  witness, 
of  course  imaginary,  in  the  contest  between  the  poet  and  Time,  who  brings 
the  charge  in  lines  1-4.  [Neither  of  Dowden's  suggestions]  has  any  relevancy 
here.  Walsh:  The  reference  may  be  to  Time  himself,  who  is  called  "envious 
and  calumniating"  in  T.  &  C,  III,  iii,  174.  Lee:  A  jealous  rival  poet  may  be 
assumed  to  be  the  "suborn'd  informer"  here.  Porter:  Time,  personified  as 
a  treacherous,  hired  or  "suborn'd"  spy  upon  man.  W.  B.  Brown  [(N.  &  Q.t 
1  iths.,  6:  446)  brings  forward  anew  Dowden's  interpretation  that  the  Informer 
is  Jealousy,  and  the  theory  is  discussed  by  other  correspondents,  being  opposed 
by  C.  C.  B.  in  7:  132,  153.  Brown  observes:]  If  the  words  .  .  .  are  applied  to 
W.  H.,  I  do  not  see  how  they  can  be  reconciled  with  the  preceding  four  lines, 
or  indeed  with  any  part  of  the  whole  volume  of  sonnets.  As  to  their  being  ad- 
dressed to  a  third  person,  there  is  nothing  in  the  sonnets  to  suggest  that  any- 
body else  had  anything  to  do  with  the  matter.  On  the  other  hand,  it  seems  to 
me  a  very  natural  conclusion  to  the  group  of  sonnets  for  Sh.  to  say  "Away  with 
jealousy!"  [Cf.  also  line  14.]  Souls  are  controlled  by  passions  and  not  by  per- 
sons. (7:  76.)  C.  C.  B.:  May  I  ask  Mr.  Brown  whom  he  takes  for  the  "true 
soul"  of  the  final  couplet?  Surely  it  is  Sh.  himself;  it  is  Sh.  who  is  "impeach'd," 
and,  therefore,  Sh.  who  does  not  stand  in  the  "control"  of  the  informer.  How, 
then,  can  jealousy  be  the  informer,  for  there  is  here  no  question  of  jealousy  on 
Sh.'s  part?   (7:  153.) 

Bradley:  [In  this  sonnet]  the  poet  repudiates  the  accusation  that  his  friend- 
ship is  too  much  based  on  beauty.   (Oxford  Led.,  p.  333m) 


cxxvi]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  299 

126 

O  thou  my  louely  Boy  who  in  thy  power, 

Doest  hould  times  fickle  glasse,  his  sickle,  hower: 

Who  hast  by  wayning  growne,  and  therein  shou'st, 

Thy  louers  withering,  as  thy  sweet  selfe  grow'st. 

If  Nature  (soueraine  misteres  ouer  wrack)  5 

As  thou  goest  onwards  still  will  plucke  thee  backe, 

She  keepes  thee  to  this  purpose,  that  her  skill. 

May  time  disgrace,  and  wretched  mynuit  kill. 

Yet  feare  her  O  thou  minnion  of  her  pleasure,  9 

She  may  detaine,  but  not  still  keepe  her  tresure! 

Her  Audite  (though  delayd)  answer'd  must  be, 

And  her  Quietus  is  to  render  thee. 

(  ) 

(  ) 

2.  Doest]  Dost  C,  M,  etc.  fickle]  tickle  Kinnear  conj. ;  sickle,  But;  brittle  W.  B. 
Brown  conj.  sickle,  hower]  fickle  hower  L;  fickle  hour  C,  Kinnear  conj.,  But, 
R;  sickle-hour  Walker  conj.,  Sta,  Co3,  Hu2,  Be,  Bull;  sickle  hour  Ty,  Ox;  tickle 
hour  or  sickle  lower  Brownlow  conj. ;  fickle  mower  Bulloch  conj. 

4.  louers]  lover's  Del  conj.;  hours  But. 

8.  wretched]  wasteful  Kinnear  conj.      mynuit]  minuits  C;  minutes  M,  etc. 

This  poem  was  omitted  from  the  Poems  of  1640  and  the  editions  based 
thereon. 

[C.  A.  Brown  seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  call  the  poem  an  "envoy," 
making  it  the  conclusion  to  the  "fifth  poem,"  Sonnets  102-126.  Dowden  calls 
it  "the  concluding  poem  of  the  series  addressed  to  Sh.'s  friend,"  i.e.,  1-126, 
and  has  been  followed  by  Tyler,  Wyndham,  Beeching,  and  many  minor  edi- 
tors. Herford  suggests  that  it  "may  originally  have  concluded  the  series 
which  ends  at  99,  forming  a  'century.'"  Massey  calls  it  an  unfinished  frag- 
ment, belonging  to  the  time  when  Southampton  was  a  boy,  and  containing  an 
idea  that  was  worked  up  elsewhere  (cf.  Sonnets  11  and  104).  (pp.  90,  220.) 
The  late  Brinsley  Nicholson  made  the  following  note  on  the  fly-leaf  of  his 
copy  of  C.  A.  Brown's  book  (now  in  the  Library  of  the  University  of  Illinois): 
"  126  to  me  reads  nothing  like  an  envoy  to  anything,  but  how  a  sonnet  remind- 
ing the  young  man  of  his  increasing  years  and  decaying  beauty  can  be  envoy 
to  a  poem  in  which  he  excuses  himself  for  inconstancy  I  cannot  understand." 
Beeching,  opposing  Herford's  suggestion,  observes  that  the  poem  "would  not 


300  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE        [cxxvi 

come  well  after  99.  It  belongs  to  the  second  period,  when  passion  has  died 
down;  like  the  sonnets  from  100  onwards  it  is  calm  and  contemplative  and  a 
little  sad.  Especially  it  chimes  in  sentiment  with  104."  (Intro.,  p.  xxxii,  n.) 
On  this  matter  of  the  "envoy"  I  may  quote,  finally,  from  some  remarks  of  my 
own,  contributed  to  the  Kittredge  Anniversary  Papers,  1913:  "If  we  ask 
whether  there  is  the  slightest  ground  for  supposing  that  it  was  meant  by  the 
poet  as  a  conclusion  to  a  preceding  series,  we  find  none.  On  the  contrary,  there 
is  ground  for  believing  just  the  opposite.  If  the  'lovely  boy'  here  addressed 
is  the  beautiful  youth  to  whom  Sonnets  1-17  and  many  of  the  others  were 
written,  the  poem  is  very  naturally  connected  with  the  opening  group  of  the 
collection,  and  with  other  sonnets  standing  at  some  distance  from  126,  in  which 
the  youth  is  warned  of  the  flight  of  time  and  the  approach  of  age.  ...  Is  there 
anything  of  the  same  character  in  the  sonnets  standing  near  the  end  of  the 
'first  series'?  On  the  contrary,  their  theme  and  tone  are  entirely  different. 
If  we  assume  the  continuity  of  109-125,  there  has  been  separation,  estrange- 
ment, suffering,  penitence,  and  this  (possible)  series  is  devoted  chiefly  to  the 
hope  that  friendship  will  outlive  these  vicissitudes  and  put  to  shame  the  '  fools 
of  time.'  Now,  suppose  Sh.  to  be  arranging  the  sonnets  in  some  final  form,  and 
to  be  setting  an  epilogue  or  envoy  to  the  series  (a  somewhat  daring  supposition), 
what  will  the  envoy  be?  It  may  be  on  love,  on  friendship,  on  the  steadfastness 
of  a  'true  soul'  (end  of  125),  on  the  struggle  of  personality  and  friendship  with 
evil  days  and  '  policy '  the  heretic,  —  it  may  be  a  return  to  the  ever-recurring 
theme  of  the  power  of  poetry  to  eternize  a  friend ;  it  may  be  almost  anything, 
one  might  venture  to  say,  rather  than  a  return  to  the  relatively  trivial  theme  of 
the  danger  of  the  decay  of  the  friend's  youthful  beauty.  The  assumption,  then, 
that  this  little  poem  is  an  epilogue  written  by  the  poet  for  the  whole  preceding 
collection  comes  near  being  entitled  to  rank  as  a  curiosity  of  criticism.  .  .  .  One 
would  suppose,  from  the  readiness  with  which  the  'envoy'  theory  has  been 
accepted,  that  it  was  customary  to  conclude  Elizabethan  sequences  with  some- 
thing of  the  kind,  in  distinct  metrical  form.  This  is,  of  course,  by  no  means  the 
fact.  The  only  thing  of  the  kind  that  I  recall  is  the  three  'conclusions'  (lyrics 
considerably  longer  than  sonnets)  which  Robert  Tofte  appended  to  the  three 
parts  of  Laura."   (p.  286.)  —  Ed.] 

Dowden:  In  the  Q,  parentheses  follow  the  12th  line,  ...  as  if  to  show  that 
two  lines  are  wanting.  But  there  is  no  good  reason  for  supposing  that  the 
poem  is  defective.  In  William  Smith's  Chloris  (1596)  a  "sonnet"  (No.  27)  of 
this  six-couplet  form  appears.  [Lee  also  notes  "so-called  sonnets  in  twelve 
lines"  in  Lodge's  Phillis  (8,  26)  and  Linche's  Diella  (13).  Walsh  calls  the  poem 
a  madrigal,  saying  that  it  "is  as  much  like  an  Italian  madrigal  as  the  others 
are  like  Italian  sonnets."  (p.  262.)] 

[Lee  {Life,  p.  97)  discusses  the  poem  as  sounding  "a  variation  on  the  con- 
ventional poetic  invocations  of  Cupid  or  Love  personified  as  a  boy,"  and  cites 
numerous  parallels,  such  as  Sidney's  "blind-hitting  boy"  {A.  &  S.,  46), 
Greville's  "sweet  boy"  (Ccelica,  84),  etc.  So  also  in  his  commentary:  "The 
tone  of  address  does  not  harmonise  with  the  theory  that  the  '  fickle  boy '  and 


cxxvi]         THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  301 

'Nature's  minion'  is  identical  with  the  poet'^  friend  of  former  sonnets.  The 
poem,  while  subtilised  by  Ovid's  philosophy,  is  in  the  vein  of  many  lyrical  apos- 
trophes of  the  boy  Cupid."  As  Beeching  remarks  (Intro.,  p.  xxxiii),  this  inter- 
pretation is  impossible.  "Cupid  is  immortal  or  he  is  nothing;  and  the  point  of 
the  Envoy  is  that  mortal  beauty  must  fade  at  last."] 

1.  lovely  Boy.  [A  puzzle  for  both  Southamptonists  and  Pembrokists,  espe- 
cially the  former.  Thus  Beeching  (assuming  that  the  poem  is  as  late  as  1603, 
because  it  follows  107)  asks:  "Is  it  credible  that  any  one,  even  if  he  were  the 
greatest  peer  of  the  realm  and  the  most  bountiful  of  patrons,  should  have  been 
addressed  by  Sh.  as  a  'lovely  boy'  when  thirty  years  of  age?"  (Intro., 
p.  xxxii.)  There  is  no  reason,  however,  whatever  the  date  of  S.  107,  why  we 
may  not  assume,  if  we  choose,  that  S.  126  was  written  at  the  same  time  as 
(say)  54.  —  Ed.] 

2.  sickle,  hower.  See  the  textual  notes.  [The  Cambridge  editors  interpret 
Capell's  MS.  correction  of  "hower"  as  "hoar,"  and  conjecture  that  he  in- 
tended to  restore  "  sickle"  in  place  of  Lintott's  "  fickle."  I  read  his  correction 
"hour,"  however,  as  noted  above. — Ed.]  Hudson  [reading  "sickle-hour"]: 
Time's  hour,  or  course,  is  here  represented  poetically  as  a  sickle.  Kinnear: 
[For  the  emendation  "tickle,"  cf.  Spenser,  F.Q.,  c.  8:  "Which  makes  me  loathe 
this  state  of  life  so  tickle,"  and  Heywood's  Epigrams:  "Time  is  tickell." 
(p.  502.)]  Tyler  [reading  "sickle  hour"]:  His  hour  which,  like  a  sickle,  cuts  off 
all  things  beautiful.  E.  B.  Brownlow  [(N.  &  Q.,  8th  s.,  3:  103)  proposes  to 
read  either  "tickle  hour"  (tickle  =  slippery)  or  "sickle  lower."  The  boy  holds 
(or  stops)  Time's  fickle  glass,  and  lowers  (or  prevents  injury  from)  Time's 
sickle.  C.  C.  B.  (ibid.,  p.  285)  would  retain  the  comma  after  "sickle,"  ob- 
serving that  "hour"  has  a  peculiar  application,  as  in  the  phrase  "the  hour  has 
come."]  Beeching  [reading  "sickle-hour"]:  When  "the  hour  is  come"  the 
sickle  strikes.   Cf.  1  H.  4,  V,  ii,  85: 

If  life  did  ride  upon  a  dial's  point, 
Still  ending  at  the  arrival  of  an  hour. 

White:  A  most  remarkable  instance  of  inversion  for  "Dost  hold  Time's  fickle 
hour-glass,  his  sickle."  Rolfe:  The  old  text  has  not  been  satisfactorily  ex- 
plained. ...  I  assume  that  "sickle"  was  a  misprint  for  "fickle"  (an  easy  slip 
of  the  type  when  the  long  5  was  in  vogue),  and  that  the  meaning  is  "during  its 
fickle  hour."  The  boy  simply  held  Time's  fickle  glass  while  it  ran  its  fickle 
hourly  course.  The  repetition  of  "fickle"  is  in  Sh.'s  manner.  "  Dost  hold"  = 
dost  hold  in  hand,  in  check,  "in  thy  power ";  and  "  fickle  hour"  =  Time's  course 
that  is  subject  to  mutation  and  vicissitude.  [This  explanation  is  borrowed 
from  J.  Crosby  (Lit.  World,  14:  64).  In  his  first  edition  Rolfe  duly  credits  his 
source,  but  in  his  revision  forgets  both  acknowledgment  and  quotation  marks.] 
W.  B.  Brown  [(N.  &  Q.,  nth  s.,  6:  446),  proposing  " brittle  glass  "  and  "fickle 
hour,"  observes  that  glass  is  called  "brittle"  in  R.  3,  IV,  ii,  62,  and  in  the 
Pass.  Pilg.,  87,  where  "brittle"  rhymes  with  "fickle."  Objections  to  this  are 


302  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE        [cxxvi 

found  in  7:  32  and  153,  with  Brown's  replies  in  7:  76  and  236.  One  of  the  ob- 
jectors ("Tom  Jones,"  p.  32)  compares  with  "sickle"  Dekker's  Honest  Whore: 
"For  all  time's  sickle  has  gone  over  you."]  Porter  [reading  " sickle  hour"]: 
Sh.'s  adjectives  are  descriptive  of  the  changeableness  of  Time,  whose  glass  is 
said  to  be  fickle;  and  of  the  suddenness  of  Death,  and  his  hour,  for  down-mow- 
ing by  Time's  scythe,  is  said  to  be  sickle.  Lee:  Cf.  Spenser,  F.Q.,  7,  8,  st.  1: 

Whose  flowering  pride,  so  fading  and  so  fickle, 

Short  time  shall  soon  cut  down  with  his  consuming  sickle. 

[The  serious  objection  to  the  text  as  it  stands  is  that  of  the  three  objects  enu- 
merated two  are  concretely  figurative,  and  the  third  is  not  —  unless  it  means  just 
the  same  as  the  first.  It  is  impossible  to  say  with  any  certainty  how  it  should 
be  emended.  But  I  wonder  why  it  does  not  seem  to  have  occurred  to  any  of 
those  reading  "sickle-hour,"  that  this  might  be  a  clock  of  the  old  sort  on  which 
Time  strikes  the  bell,  with  his  sickle.  The  only  necessary  meaning  of  the  line  is, 
"Hast  seeming  power  to  arrest  the  flight  of  the  hours,"  and  this  would  be 
figured  vividly  in  power  over  both  the  running  sands  and  the  striking  hour- 
bell.  But  this  is  not  proposed  with  the  assurance  of  a  true  commentator.  —  Ed.] 

3.  wayning  growne.  Cf.  11,  1. 

3-8.  Lee:  Sh.,  playfully  adapting  Ovid's  doctrine  of  "growth  by  waning," 
follows  the  Latin  poet  in  making  "Dame  Nature,"  by  exercise  of  "cunning 
hand,"  (artifices  manus  in  the  Latin;  cf.  line  7,  "her  skill"),  cherish  youth  at 
the  outset  in  defiance  of  Time,  "eater  up  of  things."  All  Nature's  efforts  to 
discredit  Time's  power  are,  however,  doomed  to  futility.  .  .  . 

And  when  that  long  continuance  hath  them  [i.e.,  living  things]  bit, 
You  [i.e.,  Time]  leisurely  by  lingering  death  consume  them  every  whit. 

[Golding's  Ovid.] 

5.  wrack.  Schmidt:  Destruction.  [The  regular  form  in  Sh.] 

8.  kill.  Tyler:  The  minutes  are  killed  or  annihilated,  as  leaving  behind 
them  no  trace  of  their  existence.  Beeching:  The  skill  of  Nature  .  .  .  may  be 
said  to  kill  [Time's]  minutes,  as  it  robs  them  of  their  influence. 

9.  minnion.  Schmidt:  Favourite. 

11.  Audite.  Cf.  4,  12;  49,  4.  answer'd.  Schmidt:  Paid  [comparing  Lucrece, 
83:  "That  praise  which  Collatine  doth  owe  enchanted  Tarquin  answers." 
But  the  passage  belongs  rather  under  the  interpretation  "render  account 
of,"  for  which  Schmidt  cites  numerous  instances.  —  Ed.] 

12.  Quietus.  Steevens  [refers  to  his  note  on  Haml.,  III,  i,  75:  "His  quietus 
make  with  a  bare  bodkin  " :]  This  is  the  technical  term  for  the  acquittance  which 
every  sheriff  receives  on  settling  his  accounts  at  the  Exchequer.  Cf.  Webster, 
D.  of  M.,  I,  i:  "And  'cause  you  shall  not  come  to  me  in  debt,  .  .  .  here  upon 
your  lips  I  sign  your  Quietus  est."  Hunter:  We  find  quietus  and  four  other 
words  which  may  be  considered  Exchequer  terms  within  the  compass  of  two 
lines.  (New  Illustrations,  2:  241.)  render.  Schmidt:  Surrender,  give  up. 
[Cf.  125,  12.] 


cxxvn]       THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  303 

Rolfe  [emphasizes  the  importance  of  the  manner  in  which  this  sonnet  is 
printed,  as  evidence  that  the  Q  was  not  issued  under  Sh.'s  auspices.  Sh.  could 
not  have  inserted  the  parentheses  indicating  a  supposed  omission,]  and  Thorpe 
would  not  have  done  it  if  he  had  been  in  communication  with  Sh.  In  that  case 
he  would  have  asked  the  poet  for  the  couplet  he  supposed  to  be  missing,  and 
would  have  been  told  that  nothing  was  missing.    (Intro.,  rev.  ed.,  pp.  12-13.) 

R.  H.  Legis  [(N.  &  Q.,  5th  s.,  7:  261)  interprets  this  poem  mystically.  The 
"lovely  boy"  is  the  completed  portion  of  the  sequence,  the  "immortalization 
of  what  was  best"  in  Sh.]  Von  Mauntz  [believes  that  it  was  addressed  to  the 
poet's  son  Hamnet.] 


127 

In  the  ould  age  blacke  was  not  counted  faire, 

Or  if  it  weare  it  bore  not  beauties  name : 

But  now  is  blacke  beauties  successiue  heire, 

And  Beautie  slanderd  with  a  bastard  shame, 

For  since  each  hand  hath  put  on  Natures  power,  5 

Fairing  the  foule  with  Arts  faulse  borrow'd  face, 

Sweet  beauty  hath  no  name  no  holy  boure, 

But  is  prophan'd,  if  not  Hues  in  disgrace. 

Therefore  my  Mistersse  eyes  are  Rauen  blacke,  9 

Her  eyes  so  suted,  and  they  mourners  seeme, 

At  such  who  not  borne  faire  no  beauty  lack, 

Slandring  Creation  with  a  false  esteeme, 

Yet  so  they  mourne  becomming  of  their  woe, 
That  euery  toung  saies  beauty  should  looke  so. 

2.  weare]  were  1640,  G,  etc. 

6.  faulse  borrow'd]  Hyphened  by  M,  B,  Del1.2,  Dy,  Sta,  Hu2. 

7.  name]  home  But.  boure]  bower  1640,  G,  S,  E,  Co,  Del,  etc.;  hour  M, 
A,  Kt,  B. 

8.  not]  not,  1640,  G,  S2,  E,  C. 

9-10.  eyes  . .  .  eyes]  eyes  .  .  .  hairs  C;  hairs  .  .  .  eyes  Walker  conj.,  Del  conj., 
Hu2;  brows  .  .  .  eyes  Sta  conj.,  Brae  conj.,  Gl,  R,  Wh2,  Ox,  But,  etc.;  eyes  .  .  . 
brows  Sta  conj.;  hairs  .  .  .  brows  Kinnear  conj. 
10.  and]  that  G1,  S1;  as  Dy. 

[The  first  sonnet  of  what  many,  with  Tyler,  call  the  Second  Series,  or,  like 
Beeching,  an  "Appendix  of  Sonnets  for  the  most  part  written  to  or  about  a 
Dark  Lady."] 


304  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE       [cxxvn 

Steevens:  The  reader  will  find  almost  all  that  is  said  here  on  the  subject  of 
complexion  is  repeated  in  L.  L.  L.,  IV,  iii,  250-53,  258-61: 

O,  who  can  give  an  oath?  Where  is  a  book 
That  I  may  swear  beauty  doth  beauty  lack, 

If  that  she  learn  not  of  her  eye  to  look? 
No  face  is  fair  that  is  not  full  so  black.  .  .  . 

O,  if  in  black  my  lady's  brows  be  deck'd, 
It  mourns  that  painting  and  usurping  hair 

Should  ravish  doters  with  a  false  aspect; 

And  therefore  is  she  born  to  make  black  fair. 

[Isaac  discusses  at  length  the  resemblance  of  this  sonnet  and  132  to  the  passage 
in  L.  L.  L.,  as  evidence  that  the  dark  lady  was  a  real,  not  a  fictitious,  person. 
He  also  notes  a  resemblance  to  Sidney,  A.  &  S.,  7: 

When  Nature  made  her  chief  work,  Stella's  eyes, 
In  colour  black  why  wrapt  she  beams  so  bright? 
Would  she  in  beamy  black,  like  painter  wise, 
Frame  daintiest  lustre,  mix'd  of  shades  and  light? 
Or  did  she  else  that  sober  hue  devise, 
In  object  best  to  knit  and  strength  our  sight? 
Lest  if  no  veil  these  brave  gleams  did  disguise, 
They  sun-like  should  more  dazzle  than  delight. 
Or  would  she  her  miraculous  power  show? 
That  whereas  black  seems  beauty's  contrary, 
She,  even  in  black,  doth  make  all  beauties  flow! 
But  so  and  thus,  she  minding  Love  should  be 
Plac'd  ever  there,  gave  him  this  mourning  weed, 
To  honour  all  their  deaths  which  for  her  bleed. 

We  may  infer,  Isaac  suggests,  that  the  sonnet  is  dated  between  Sh.'s  reading 
of  Sidney's  sonnets  and  the  writing  of  L.  L.  L.  (Archiv,  61 :  399-405.)  Krauss 
(Jahrb.,  16:  186-87)  nnds  the  connection  with  Sidney's  verse  an  evidence  of  his 
view  (derived  from  Massey)  of  the  "dark  lady"  sonnets  as  concerned  with 
"Stella"  (Lady  Rich)  and  Herbert.  He  also  notes  a  resemblance  between  the 
general  tone  of  Sonnets  127-152  and  the  Fifth  Song  of  A.  &  S.:  "While  favour 
fed  my  hope,  delight  with  hope  was  brought,"  etc.]    White:  This  is  an  allu- 

1  sion  to  the  remarkable  fact  that  during  the  chivalric  ages  brunettes  were  not 
acknowledged  as  beauties  anywhere  in  Christendom.  In  all  the  old  conies, 
fabliaux,  and  romances  that  I  am  acquainted  with,  the  heroines  are  blondes. 

•  And  more,  the  possession  of  dark  eyes  and  hair,  and  the  complexion  that  accom- 
panies them,  is  referred  to  by  the  troubadours  as  a  misfortune.  But  the  bru- 
nettes have  changed  the  fashion  since  that  day.  Is  it  partly  so  because,  as  the 
naturalists  inform  us,  the  blond  type  is  disappearing,  and  taste  conforms  to 
\  necessity?  Lee:  Neither  in  the  sonnets  nor  in  the  play  can  Sh.'s  praise  of 
"blackness"  claim  the  merit  of  being  his  own  invention.   [Cf.  A.  &  S.,  7.]  To 


cxxvn]       THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  305 

his  praise  of  "blackness"  in  L.  L.  L.  Sh.  appends  a  playful  but  caustic  com- 
ment on  the  paradox  that  he  detects  in  the  conceit  ["O  paradox!  Black  is  the 
badge  of  hell,"  etc.].  Similarly,  the  sonnets  in  which  a  dark  complexion  is 
pronounced  to  be  a  mark  of  beauty,  are  followed  by  others  in  which  the  poet 
argues  in  self-confutation  that  blackness  of  feature  is  hideous  in  a  woman,  and 
invariably  indicates  moral  turpitude  or  blackness  of  heart.  Twice,  in  much  the 
same  language  as  had  already  served  a  like  purpose  in  the  play,  does  he  mock 
his  "dark  lady"  with  this  uncomplimentary  interpretation  of  dark-coloured 
hair  and  eyes.  [Here  Lee  gives  no  references;  the  only  passages  to  which  he  can 
allude  would  seem  to  be  131,  13;  137,  12;  and  147,  14,  which  are  far  from  bearing 
out  his  description.  It  may  be  well  here  to  note  the  passages,  in  addition  to  the 
present  sonnet,  in  which  a  woman  of  dark  complexion  is  definitely  referred  to: 
they  are  130,  4;  131,  12-14;  132;  144,  4;  and  perhaps  147,  14.  To  this  may  be 
added  references  to  a  woman  physically  unattractive,  but  without  further 
specification,  in  137,  12;  141,  2;  148,  6.  —  Ed.]  The  two  sonnets  in  which  this 
view  of  "blackness"  is  developed  form  part  of  a  series  of  twelve,  which  belongs 
to  a  special  category  of  sonneteering  effort.  In  them  Sh.  abandons  the  sugared 
sentiment  which  characterises  most  of  his  142  remaining  sonnets.  He  grows 
vituperative,  and  pours  a  volley  of  passionate  abuse  upon  a  woman  whom  he 
represents  as  disdaining  his  advances.  The  genuine  anguish  of  a  rejected  lover 
often  expresses  itself  in  curses  both  loud  and  deep,  but  the  mood  of  blinding 
wrath  which  the  rejection  of  a  love-suit  may  rouse  in  a  passionate  nature  does 
not  seem  from  the  internal  evidence  to  be  reflected  genuinely  in  Sh.'s  sonnets 
of  vituperation.  It  was  inherent  in  Sh.'s  genius  that  he  should  import  more 
dramatic  intensity  than  any  other  poet  into  sonnets  of  a  vituperative  type; 
but  there  is  also  in  his  vituperative  sonnets  a  declamatory  parade  of  figurative 
extravagance  which  suggests  that  the  emotion  is  feigned  and  that  the  poet  is 
striking  an  attitude.  [See  further,  regarding  the  vogue  of  the  vituperative 
sonnet,  notes  on  S.  147.]  {Life,  pp.  119-20.)  W.  C.  Hazlitt:  [Cf.  Jonson, 
Masque  of  Blackness,  especially  the  lines  — 

Though  he,  [the  sun]  the  best  judge,  and  most  formal  cause 

Of  all  dames'  beauties,  in  their  firm  hues,  draws 

Signs  of  his  fervent'st  love,  and  thereby  shows 

That  in  their  black  the  perfect'st  beauty  grows.] 

Perhaps  Sh.  saw  this  in  MS.  (Sh.,  Himself  &  his  Work,  pp.  256-57.)  Walsh: 
The  rare  is  most  admired,  or  at  least  is  most  talked  about.  Southerners  express 
admiration  for  blondes,  northerners  for  brunettes.  As  the  older  poets  were  from 
the  south,  Sh.  speaks  of  brunettes  not  having  been  in  so  much  favour  as  blondes 
"in  the  old  age."  Ovid,  indeed,  has  written: 

Candida  me  capiet,  capiet  me  flava  puella, 

Est  etiam  in  fusco  grata  colore  venus; 

(Amores,  II,  iv,  39-40) 

in  which  the  "etiam"  is  noteworthy.  To  import  into  poetry  admiration  for 
brunettes  was  something  new.  To  a  poet,  moreover,  fairness  seemed  celestial, 


306  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE       [cxxvn 

darkness  the  opposite;  so  that  it  appeared  paradoxical  to  praise  darkness,  and 
the  current  admiration  for  the  dark  in  feminine  beauty  went  against  the  grain. 
[Cf.  A.  &  S.,  7.]  And  Lilly  wrote:  "Oftentimes  for  fashion  sake  you  call  them 
beautiful,  whom  you  know  black."  {Campaspe,  IV,  ii.)  On  the  other  side,  as 
the  word  "fair"  had  already  become  synonymous  with  "beauty,"  to  praise  the 
beauty  of  a  dark  complexion  (also  "blackness"  and  "foulness"  being  almost 
identified)  gave  room  for  much  word-play,  of  which  the  Elizabethans  were  ex- 
tremely fond.  Sh.,  perhaps  himself  smitten  with  admiration  for  some  dark 
lady,  makes  the  most  of  this  word-play  and  contradiction;  and  when  his  mistress, 
all  along  unkind,  showed  herself  morally  frail,  he  found  satisfaction  in,  and 
turned  to  poetical  account,  this  agreement  between  her  dark  complexion  and 
her  black  disposition.  [Cf.  L.  L.  L.,  and  notice  that  in  T.  &  C]  the  fickle 
heroine  is  likewise  dark-complexioned.  [M.  B.  Ogle  (Sewanee  Rev.,  20:  459) 
discusses  the  ideal  of  blond  beauty  as  a  literary  conceit,  giving  examples  from 
the  classical  and  medieval  poets  as  well  as  those  of  the  Renaissance.  He  con- 
cludes:] What  we  commonly  conceive  to  be  the  distinct  type  of  southern  beauty 
...  is  not  the  literary  type  at  all;  it  finds  no  favor  with  the  love  poets  of  south- 
ern peoples,  whose  ladies  are  all  blondes  of  the  most  pronounced  type.  (p.  466.) 
Horace  Davis:  Cf.  a  poem  in  Bullen's  More  Lyrics  from  Elizabethan  Song- 
Books,  p.  65  (from  Christ  Church  MS.  K.  3): 

Let  not  thy  blackness  move  thee  to  despair; 

Black  women  are  beloved  of  men  that 's  fair. 

What  if  thy  hair  her  flaxen  blackness  lack? 

Thy  face  is  comely  though  thy  brow  be  black. 

3.  successive.  Schmidt:  Hereditary,  legitimate. 

4.  Tyler:  Beauty  and  Nature  are  slandered  by  the  artificial  asserting  in 
effect  that  Art  is  better  than  Nature. 

6.  Cf.  S.  68.  Fairing.  See  note  on  5,  4. 

7.  boure.  See  textual  notes.  Schmidt:  Pleasant  habitation.  [The  N.E.D. 
notes  this  passage  under  the  secondary  definition,  "an  idealized  abode,  not 
realized  in  any  actual  dwelling."] 

9.  eyes.  [Isaac,  favoring  the  emendation  "hairs,"  cites  L.L.L.,  "O,  if  in 
black  my  lady's  brows  be  deck'd,"  where  we  are  to  understand  "brows"  as 
equivocal  for  either  "eyebrows"  or  "forehead."  Since  black  hair  gives  a  fitting 
image  for  a  mourning  garment,  the  passage  may  be  best  understood,  "Your 
forehead  is  clothed  with  black  hairs."  (Archiv,  61:  406.)]  Massey:  By  "her 
eyes  so  suited"  Sh.  did  not  mean  also,  but  her  eyes  thus  dressed  in  black.  A 
repetition  which  lays  a  double  stress  upon  the  eyes,  and  proves  that  neither  the 
hair  nor  the  brows  were  intended.  .  .  .  The  woman  of  the  latter  sonnets  is  no 
more  black-haired  than  she  was  black-skinned.  If  she  had  been,  the  black  eyes 
would  not  have  "put  on"  mourning,  (p.  240.)  [This  is  with  reference  to  the 
identification  of  the  lady  with  Penelope  Rich,  who  was  a  blonde  with  black 
eyes.]  Wyndham:  No  emendation  is  necessary.  "Her  eyes  so  suited"  makes 
an  additional  proposition  about  the  eyes  which  leads  up  to  "and  they  mourners 
seem." 


cxxvm]      THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  307 

10.  suted.  Schmidt:  Clothed.  [Cf.  132,  12.]  [I  do  not  dissent  from  this 
usual  interpretation,  but  think  it  possible  that  the  meaning  is  "fitted," 
"adapted,"  as  frequently  in  Sh.;  —  rather  more  probably  than  in  132,  12, 
where  Beeching  so  renders  it.  —  Ed.] 

12.  M alone:  Dishonour  nature  by  their  imperfect  imitation  and  false 
pretensions. 

13.  becomming  of.  Schmidt:  According  with.  Dowden:  Gracing.  The 
word  "of"  is  frequently  used  as  here  after  the  participles  of  transitive  verbs. 
Cf.  "fearing  of,"  115,  9,  [and  many  examples  cited  by  Schmidt  under  "of."] 

13-14.  Von  Mauntz:  Cf.  Ovid,  Amores,  II,  v,  44:  "Maesta  erat  in  vultu: 
maesta  decenter  erat."  [Marlowe's  translation:  "She  looked  sad;  sad,  comely 
I  esteem 'd  her."] 

128 

How  oft  when  thou  my  musike  musike  playst, 
Vpon  that  blessed  wood  whose  motion  sounds 
With  thy  sweet  fingers  when  thou  gently  swayst, 
The  wiry  concord  that  mine  eare  confounds, 
Do  I  enuie  those  Iackes  that  nimble  leape,  5 

To  kisse  the  tender  inward  of  thy  hand, 
Whilst  my  poore  lips  which  should  that  haruest  reape, 
At  the  woods  bouldnes  by  thee  blushing  stand. 
To  be  so  tikled  they  would  change  their  state,  9 

And  situation  with  those  dancing  chips, 
Ore  whome  their  fingers  walke  with  gentle  gate, 
Making  dead  wood  more  blest  then  liuing  lips, 
Since  sausie  Iackes  so  happy  are  in  this, 
Giue  them  their  fingers,  me  thy  lips  to  kisse. 

1.  my]  thy  1640,  G,  S,  E.        musike  playst]  Hyphened  by  G2,  S2,  E. 

4.  wiry]  wity  G1;  witty  G2,  S,  E. 

8.  thee]  the  L. 

11.  their]  thy  G1,  S1,  C,  M,  etc. 

14.  their]  thy  1640,  G,  etc. 

Massey:  The  motive  or  conceit  of  [this  sonnet]  was  borrowed  from  Ben 
Jonson's  play, Every  Man  out  of  hisHumour  (III,  iii),  1599.  "Fast.  You  see  the 
subject  of  her  sweet  fingers  there  [a  viol  de  gamba].  Oh,  she  tickles  it  so,  that 
she  makes  it  laugh  most  divinely.  I  '11  tell  you  a  good  jest  now,  and  yourself 
shall  say  it's  a  good  one;  I  have  wished  myself  to  be  that  instrument,  I  think, 


308  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE      [cxxvm 

a  thousand  times."  (p.  232.)  [Simpson,  on  the  other  hand,  speaks  of  the  idea 
as  borrowed  by  Jonson  (p.  73) ;  and  most  commentators  find  nothing  significant 
in  the  resemblance.] 

Sarrazin:  [Cf.  a  sonnet  of  Constable's,  entitled  "Of  her  excellency  both  in 
singing  and  instruments": 

A  lute  of  senseless  wood,  by  nature  dumb, 
Touch'd  by  thy  hand  doth  speak  divinely  well.] 

{Sh.'s  Lehrjahre,  p.  153.) 

1.  my  musike.   Rolfe:  Cf.  8,  1. 

4.  concord.   Malone:  Cf.  8,  5. 

5.  envie.  Malone:  This  word  is  accented  by  other  ancient  writers  in  the 
same  manner.  So  in  Marlowe's  Edward  II:  "If  for  these  dignities  thou  be 
envy'd."  [Cf.  T.  of  S.,  II,  i,  18  (where,  of  course,  we  could  not  be  sure  of  the 
accent  by  itself) :  "  Is  it  for  him  you  do  envy  me  so?  "  —  Ed.]  Jackes.  [Dowden 
quotes  from  Fairholt,  through  Dyce's  Glossary,  a  standard  definition  of  the 
virginal  jack  as  a  "piece  of  wood,  furnished  on  the  upper  part  with  a  quill 
affixed  to  it  by  springs  of  bristle,"  which  was  "directed  by  the  finger-key  to  the 
string";  but  in  defiance  of  the  citation  defines  the  word  here  as  "keys  of  the 
virginal."]  Rolfe:  Here  used  loosely  (as  probably  in  common  speech)  for  the 
keys.  N.  E.  D.:  By  Sh.  and  some  later  writers  erroneously  applied  to  the  key. 
[But  no  example  is  given  from  "later  writers"  unless  it  be  the  ambiguous  pas- 
sage from  Middleton,  Father  Hubbard's  Tale:  "Her  teeth  chattered  in  her 
head,  and  leaped  up  and  down  like  virginal- jacks."]  Delius  [supposes  that  the 
word  is  chosen  for  a  play  on  its  meaning  of  "fellows."] 

6.  Steevens:  [Cf.  Carey's]  Chrononhotonthologus :  "The  tea-cups  skip  with 
eager  haste  to  kiss  your  royal  lip."  Malone:  There  is  scarcely  a  writer  of  love- 
verses,  among  our  elder  poets,  who  has  not  introduced  hyperboles  as  extrava- 
gant as  that  in  the  text,  which  the  foregoing  quotation  was  produced  to  ridi- 
cule. Thus  Waller,  in  his  "Address  to  a  Lady  Playing  on  a  Lute": 

The  trembling  strings  about  her  fingers  crowd, 
And  tell  their  joy  for  every  kiss  aloud. 

Lee:  Cf.  T.  And.,  II,  iv,  46:  "And  make  the  silken  strings  delight  to  kiss 
them." 

14.  their.  [Miss  Porter  alone  makes  her  faithful  effort  to  keep  the  Q  text, 
explaining:]  Because  her  fingers  are  given  to  them. 

Butler:  It  has  been  argued  from  this  sonnet  that  Sh.'s  mistress  was  highly 
accomplished.  One  would  like  to  have  heard  whether  she  could  do  more  than 
strum.  And  one  would  also  like  to  know  how  far  Sh.  was  qualified  to  judge. 
The  sonnet  is  conventional,  and  does  not  suggest  a  writer  whose  ear  was  likely 
to  be  much  confounded  by  either  concord  or  discord.  Mackail  [speaks  of  this 
sonnet,  and  of  145,  as  "both  trivial  in  substance  and  undistinguished  in  style." 
Later  he  implies  that  they  are  not  by  Sh.   {Led.  on  Poetry,  pp.  203,  205.)] 


cxxix]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  309 

129 

Th'expence  of  Spirit  in  a  waste  of  shame 
Is  lust  in  action,  and  till  action,  lust 
Is  periurd,  murdrous,  blouddy  full  of  blame, 
Sauage,  extreame,  rude,  cruell,  not  to  trust, 
Inioyd  no  sooner  but  dispised  straight,  5 

Past  reason  hunted,  and  no  sooner  had 
Past  reason  hated  as  a  swollowed  bayt, 
On  purpose  layd  to  make  the  taker  mad. 
Made  In  pursut  and  in  possession  so,  9 

Had,  hauing,  and  in  quest,  to  haue  extreame, 
A  blisse  in  proof e  and  proud  and  very  wo, 
Before  a  ioy  proposd  behind  a  dreame, 
All  this  the  world  well  knowes  yet  none  knowes  well, 
To  shun  the  heauen  that  leads  men  to  this  hell. 

1.  Th']  The  C,  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Del,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Cam,  Do,  R,  Wh2,  Ty,  Ox, 
But,  etc.  (except  Wa). 
3.  murdrous]  murtherous  Wh1,  R;  murth'rous  Wh2. 
9.  Made]  Mad  G1,  S,  C,  M,  etc. 

10.  quest,  to  haue]  quest  to  have,  C,  M,  etc. 

11.  proud  and]  prov'd,  and  G1;  prov'd  a  S1;  prov'd,  a  C,  M,  etc. 
14.  heauen]  haven  1640,  G1. 

Massey  [puts  this  sonnet  in  a  pair  with  146,  and  thinks  that  they  were  sug- 
gested by  Sidney's  pair  on  sensual  and  spiritual  love,  which  followed  the  A.  &  S. 
in  Sidney's  Poems  of  1598.  The  first  of  Sidney's  is  as  follows: 

Thou  blind  man's  mark!  thou  fool's  self-chosen  snare! 
Fond  fancy's  scum!  and  dregs  of  scattered  thought! 
Band  of  all  evils!  cradle  of  causeless  care! 
Thou  web  of  will!  whose  end  is  never  wrought. 
Desire!  Desire!  I  have  too  dearly  bought, 
With  price  of  mangled  mind,  thy  worthless  ware! 
Too  long,  too  long  asleep  thou  hast  me  brought! 
Who  should  my  mind  to  higher  things  prepare. 
But  yet  in  vain  thou  hast  my  ruin  sought! 
In  vain  thou  mad'st  me  to  vain  things  aspire! 
In  vain  thou  kindlest  all  thy  smoky  fire! 
For  virtue  hath  this  better  lesson  taught: 


3io  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE         [cxxix 

Within  myself  to  seek  my  only  hire, 
Desiring  nought,  but  how  to  kill  Desire. 

"A  theme  thus  adopted  and  developed  from  Sidney,"  says  Massey,  ".  .  .  can 
no  longer  be  considered  as  a  passion  personal  to  the  writer."  (p.  236.)]  Lee: 
[The  sonnet]  treats  with  marvelous  force  and  insight  a  stereotyped  theme  of 
sonneteers,  and  it  may  have  owed  its  whole  existence  to  Sir  Philip  Sidney's 
sonnet  on  Desire.  ...  In  Emaricdulfe:  Sonnets  written  by  E.  C,  1595,  S.  37  .  .  . 
even  more  closely  resembles  Sh.'s  sonnet  in  both  phraseology  and  sentiment. 
(Life,  p.  153.)   [It  is  as  follows: 

O  lust,  of  sacred  love  the  foul  corrupter, 

Usurper  of  her  heavenly  dignity! 

Folly's  first  child,  good  counsel's  interrupter, 

Fostered  by  sloth,  first  step  to  infamy! 

Thou  hell-born  monster  that  affrights  the  wise, 

Love-choking  lust,  virtue's  disdainful  foe, 

Wisdom's  contemner,  spurner  of  advice, 

Swift  to  forswear,  to  faithful  promise  slow! 

Be  thou  as  far  from  her  chaste-thoughted  breast, 

Her  true  love-kindled  heart,  her  virtuous  mind, 

As  is  all-seeing  Tysan  from  the  West, 

When  from  Aurora's  arms  he  doth  untwind. 

Nature  did  make  her  of  a  heavenly  mould, 

Only  true  heavenly  virtues  to  enfold.] 

Rolfe:  Cf.   V.  &  A.,  799-804: 

Love  comforteth  like  sunshine  after  rain, 
But  Lust's  effect  is  tempest  after  sun; 
Love's  gentle  spring  doth  always  fresh  remain, 
Lust's  winter  comes  ere  summer  half  be  done; 
Love  surfeits  not,  Lust  like  a  glutton  dies; 
Love  is  all  truth,  Lust  full  of  forged  lies. 

Walsh:  Cf.  Petronius,  Fragmenta,  18: 

Foeda  est  in  coitu  et  brevis  voluptas, 
Et  taedet  Veneris  statim  peractae; 

which  was  thus  rendered  by  Ben  Jonson: 

Doing  a  filthy  pleasure  is,  and  short; 

And  done,  we  straight  repent  us  of  the  sport. 

[Translations,  Cunningham  ed.,  3:  387.] 

[And  again,  with  the  final  couplet],  Fragmenta,  23:  "Nemo  non  haec  vera  dicit, 
nemo  non  contra  facit."  [The  fact  that  Jonson  translated  one  of  these  passages 
makes  the  suggestion  of  Petronius  as  a  possible  source  not  uninteresting,  pro- 
vided the  two  parallels  are  found  in  something  like  juxtaposition.  Not  discov- 
ering the  second,  however,  in  the  standard  editions  of  Petronius,  I  communi- 


cxxix]         THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  311 

cated  with  Mr.  Walsh,  who  has  kindly  written  to  me  as  follows:  "The  only  edi- 
tion of  Petronius  I  had  at  the  time  was  Guerle's  French  translation,  with  the 
Latin  original  at  the  bottom  of  the  page.  .  .  .  The  fragments  are  printed  at  the 
end  of  the  Satyricon,  and  there  are  36  of  them.  I  now  notice,  what  must  have 
escaped  me,  that  in  the  Introduction  the  editor  says  this  collection  of  fragments 
was  supposed  to  have  been  found  at  Belgrade  in  1688,  and  was  published  by 
Nodot  in  1692,  and  is  considered  apocryphal.  The  first  one  quoted,  however 
('Foeda  est,'  etc.),  is  evidently  genuine,  as  it  is  accredited  to  Petronius  in 
Baehrens's  Poetae  Latini  Minores,  vol.  iv,  p.  99;  but  the  poem  containing  the 
other  line  is  there  ascribed  to  Florus,  p.  348.  To  me  it  was  significant  that  not 
only  this  sonnet  but  S.  20,  besides  153-154,  are  paralleled  by  Latin  verses.  For 
this  reason  I  should  myself  rather  infer  that  we  have  no  right  to  attribute  either 
of  the  two  first-mentioned  sonnets  to  anything  happening  in  Sh.'s  life,  but  should 
look  upon  them  merely  as  literary  compositions,  each  expanding  into  14  lines  a 
Latin  couplet."  I  am  also  indebted  to  Professor  W.  A.  Oldfather  for  the  state- 
ment that  the  epigram  translated  by  Jonson  appeared  in  the  edition  of  Petro- 
nius made  by  Claudius  Binetus  in  1579  (see  Riese,  Anthologia  Latina,  p.  xxxiii). 
This  would  account  for  its  accessibility  in  the  Elizabethan  age,  though  I  am 
not  able  to  see  that  the  matter  is  especially  pertinent  to  the  present  sonnet.  — 
Ed.]  Notice  that  this  sonnet  has  no  connection  whatever  with  any  other  sonnet 
or  with  anything  else  in  Sh.'s  writings.  The  nearest  to  it  are  some  passages 
concerning  lust  in  general:  [  V.  &  A.,  799-804,  quoted  above];  T.  G.  V.,  I,  i, 

32-33: 

If  haply  won,  perhaps  a  hapless  gain: 
If  lost,  why  then  a  grievous  labour  won; 

M.  W.  W  .,V,v,  97-100: 

Fie  on  sinful  fantasy ! 
Fie  on  lust  and  luxury! 
Lust  is  but  a  bloody  fire, 
Kindled  with  unchaste  desire; 

HatnL,  I,  v,  55-57:  "Lust  .  .  .  will  .  .  .  prey  on  garbage."   For  the  style  also 
cf.  R.  &J.,l,  i,  196-200: 

Love  is  a  smoke  made  with  the  fume  of  sighs; 

Being  purg'd,  a  fire  sparkling  in  lovers'  eyes; 

Being  vex'd,  a  sea  nourish'd  with  lovers'  tears. 

What  is  it  else?  A  madness  most  discreet, 

A  choking  gall,  and  a  preserving  sweet; 

T.  &  C,  I,  ii,  313-19: 

Things  won  are  done,  joy's 'soul  lies  in  the  doing;  .  .  . 
Men  prize  the  thing  ungain'd  more  than  it  is.  .  .  . 
Achievement  is  command;  ungain'd,  beseech. 

Notice  how  much  more  terse  is  the  style  of  this  sonnet.   Only  the  quotation 
from  Hamlet  is  pitched  in  the  same  key. 


312  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cxxix 

[Cf.  also  (noted  by  Trench,  below,  and  others)  Lucrece,  690-714: 

This  momentary  joy  breeds  months  of  pain, 
This  hot  desire  converts  to  cold  disdain; 
Pure  Chastity  is  rifled  of  her  store, 
And  Lust,  the  thief,  far  poorer  than  before.  .  .  . 

While  Lust  is  in  his  pride,  no  exclamation 
Can  curb  his  heat  or  rein  his  rash  desire, 
Till,  like  a  jade,  Self-will  himself  doth  tire. 

And  then  with  lank  and  lean  discolour'd  cheek, 

With  heavy  eye,  knit  brow,  and  strengthless  pace, 

Feeble  Desire,  all  recreant,  poor,  and  meek, 

Like  to  a  bankrupt  beggar  wails  his  case. 

The  flesh  being  proud,  Desire  doth  fight  with  Grace, 

For  there  it  revels;  and  when  that  decays, 

The  guilty  rebel  for  remission  prays.] 

Rolfe:  I  could  as  soon  believe  the  penitential  psalms  of  David  to  be  purely 
rhetorical  and  fictitious  as  the  129th  Sonnet,  than  which  no  more  remorseful 
utterance  was  ever  wrung  from  a  soul  that  had  tasted  the  ashes  to  which  the 
Sodom-apples  of  illicit  love  are  turned  in  the  end.  ...  If  this  is  supposed  to  be 
the  counterfeit  of  feeling,  I  can  only  exclaim  with  Leonato  in  Much  Ado,  "O 
God !  counterfeit !  There  was  never  counterfeit  of  passion  came  so  near  the  life 
of  passion!"  (Intro.,  rev.  ed.,  p.  19.)  [The  analogy  of  the  penitential  Psalms 
is  a  bit  unfortunate,  since  they  are  now  believed  by  many  authorities  to  have 
reference  to  the  sins  of  the  Jewish  people,  not  to  those  of  an  individual.  One 
might  observe,  too,  that  the  whole  discussion  of  originality  or  unoriginality  in 
connection  with  this  sonnet  is  a  rather  droll  exercise  of  the  commentators.  It  is 
an  outstanding  exception  to  the  series  as  a  whole,  in  being  such  an  account  of 
its  subject  as  might  be  given  from  experience  or  observation  by  nine-tenths  of 
all  the  men  who  ever  lived ;  hence  to  view  it  on  the  one  hand  as  having  reference 
to  a  particular  experience  of  Sh.'s,  or  on  the  other  as  an  imitation  of  other  state- 
ments of  the  same  fact,  is  equally  perilous.  —  Ed.] 

1.  expence.  [Cf.  30,  8  (and  note)  and  94,  6.  The  N.  E.  D.,  under  the  defini- 
tion "the  expending  or  using  up  (of  material  or  immaterial  resources),"  cites 
L.  L.  L.,  V,  ii,  523:  "So  much  expense  of  thy  royal  sweet  breath."]  Tyler: 
Cf.  Bacon,  Nat.  Hist.,  "It  hath  been  observed  by  the  ancients  that  much  use 
of  Venus  doth  dim  the  sight.  .  .  .  The  cause  ...  is  the  expence  of  spirits." 
(Spedding  ed.,  2:  555-56.)  Spirit.  Schmidt:  Vital  power,  life.  [Cf.  K.J.,  IV, 
i,  no:  "The  breath  of  heaven  hath  blown  his  (the  coal's)  spirit  out";  A.  &  C, 
IV,  xv,  58:  "Now  my  spirit  is  going,  I  can  no  more."] 

1-2.  Walsh:  "Lust  in  action"  is  the  subject,  not  the  predicate.  For  the 
construction,  cf.  Wordsworth,  Excursion,  ix,  20:  "The  food  of  hope  is  medi- 
tated action." 


cxxix]         THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  313 

4.  to  trust.  Abbott:  Infinitive  active  is  often  found  where  we  use  the  pas- 
sive. .  .  .  This  is  especially  common  in  "what's  to  do"  for  "what's  to  be  done." 
(§  3590   [See  also  Franz,  §  497.J 

9-1 1.  See  textual  notes.  Wyndham:  "Proud"  stands  naturally  for 
"proved"  with,  as  always,  u  for  v  (and,  as  frequently,  no  apostrophe  to  mark 
the  omission  of  a  mute  e).  .  .  .  "A"  may  well  have  been  mistaken  for  the  sym- 
bol of  "and." 

10.  Verity:  [For  the  compressed  grammatical  construction,  cf.]  T.  &  C, 
II,  iii,  263:  "He  must,  he  is,  he  cannot  but  be  wise";  and  Rami.,  I,  ii,  158: 
"It  is  not  nor  it  cannot  come  to  good." 

11-14.  Tyler:  Mr.  Shaw  has  directed  my  attention  to  the  following  pas- 
sage in  Lodge's  Euphues  Golden  Legacie  (1590): 

Ah,  Lorrell,  lad,  what  makes  thee  Herry  love? 
A  sugred  harme,  a  poyson  full  of  pleasure, 
A  painted  shrine,  ful-fild  with  rotten  treasure, 
A  heaven  in  shew,  a  hell  to  them  that  prove. 

12.  Tyler:  Cf.  Lucrece,  211-12: 

What  win  I,  if  I  gain  the  thing  I  seek? 
A  dream,  a  breath,  a  froth  of  fleeting  joy. 

[Rolfe  quotes  from  Trench,  on  this  sonnet,  in  the  Household  Book  of  Poetry, 
1868:]  The  subject  .  .  .  Sh.  must  have  most  deeply  felt,  as  he  has  expressed 
himself  upon  it  most  profoundly.  I  know  no  picture  of  this  at  all  so  terrible  in 
its  truth  as,  in  Lucrece,  the  description  of  Tarquin  after  he  has  successfully 
wrought  his  deed  of  shame.  But  this  sonnet  on  the  same  theme  is  worthy  to 
stand  by  its  side.  Isaac:  Whether  before  or  after  Sh.  any  poet  has  accom- 
plished something  similar  in  this  form,  I  cannot  say,  but  I  am  rather  disposed 
to  doubt  it;  among  his  contemporaries  no  one  composed  anything  like  so  mag- 
nificent a  sonnet.  One  asks  himself  in  surprise,  Is  this  really  a  sonnet?  that 
trifling,  graceful,  decorative,  and  yet  rigid  and  troublesome  form,  in  which 
poets  are  obliged  to  stalk  about  as  in  new  and  expensive  holiday  clothing, 
which  threatens  to  spoil  every  free  movement,  every  incautious  touch?  .  .  . 
What  matter  here  whether  one  idea  or  a  number  of  ideas?  A  flood  of  ideas 
rushes  over  us,  every  word  an  idea,  every  word  a  moral  blow.  The  poet  knows 
no  restraints,  he  pours  his  whole  heart  out  for  us.  And  yet  nothing  is  over- 
looked or  changed  of  what  makes  up  the  law  of  this  fixed  form.  (Archiv,  62 :  27.) 
Tyler:  In  majestic  strength  [this  sonnet]  must  claim  pre-eminence.  (Intro., 
p.  7.)  The  matter  [of  it]  answers  even  in  several  details  to  the  "Allegory" 
painted  by  Bronzino,  now  in  the  National  Gallery.  Verity:  I  suppose  there  is 
nowhere  in  the  plays  and  poems  a  more  striking  instance  of  compression  than 
this  sonnet  affords.  Shindler:  The  tragic  terror  of  this  tremendous  poem 
coming  with  the  most  absolute  incongruity  between  two  light  and  playful  son- 
nets might  be  enough  of  itself  to  mark  the  arbitrary  character  of  the  present 
arrangement.   (Gent.  Mag.,  272:  81.)  Furnivall:   To  put  [this]  grand,  pene- 


y\ 


V) 


314  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE         [cxxx 

trative,  and  weighty  sonnet  .  .  .  before  1600-1601  is  surely  a  misjudgment. 
(Sh.  6?  Mary  Fitton,  p.  5.)  P.  E.  More:  The  peculiarity  of  Sh.'s  confession  is 
that  we  see  a  sensitive  soul  actually  in  the  toils  of  evil,  which  he  deplores  yet 
hugs  to  his  breast.  It  is  this  association  which  makes  the  terrible  129th  Sonnet 
unique  in  English  —  unique,  so  far  as  I  know,  in  any  language.  Only  the  con- 
science of  the  Puritan  united  to  the  libertine  fancy  of  a  Cavalier  (a  phenomenon 
not  easily  conceivable  outside  of  England)  could  have  produced  those  words. 
(Shelburne  Essays,  2:  41.)  [Henry  Davey,  in  the  Memoir  appended  to  the 
Stratford  Town  Edition  of  Sh.,  calls  this  "the  very  finest  sonnet  ever  written 
in  any  language."    (10:  279.)] 

For  the  structure  of  the  sonnet,  see  Beeching's  note  under  S.  66. 

I30 

My  Mistres  eyes  are  nothing  like  the  Sunne, 

Currall  is  farre  more  red,  then  her  lips  red, 

If  snow  be  white,  why  then  her  brests  are  dun : 

If  haires  be  wiers,  black  wiers  grow  on  her  head: 

I  haue  seene  Roses  damaskt,  red  and  white,  5 

But  no  such  Roses  see  I  in  her  cheekes, 

And  in  some  perfumes  is  there  more  delight, 

Then  in  the  breath  that  from  my  Mistres  reekes. 

I  loue  to  heare  her  speake,  yet  well  I  know,  9 

That  Musicke  hath  a  farre  more  pleasing  sound: 

I  graunt  I  neuer  saw  a  goddesse  goe, 

My  Mistres  when  shee  walkes  treads  on  the  ground. 

And  yet  by  heauen  I  thinke  my  loue  as  rare, 

As  any  she  beli'd  with  false  compare. 

2.  Currall]  Coral  G,  etc.        lips]  lips'  C,  M,  etc.  (except  Ty). 
5.  damaskt]  damask  G,  S,  E. 
7.  is  there]  there  is  G,  S2,  E. 

Beeching:  A  less  pleasant  variation  on  the  motif  of  S.  21.  [For  examples  of 
the  sonnet  style  here  ridiculed,  see  the  notes  on  21.  To  those  there  mentioned, 
Isaac  (Archiv,  61:  393-96)  adds  a  reference  to  Petrarch,  Pt.  1,  S.  8;  canz.  6, 
str.  5;  canz.  8,  str.  4;  Constable,  Diana,  S.  7: 

No,  no,  I  flatter  not  when  thee  I  call 

The  sun,  sith  that  the  sun  was  never  such;  etc. 

Sidney,  A.  &  S.,  8,  where  Love  is  described  as  seeking  heat,  when  cold,  in  the 
light  of  Stella's  face;  Lodge,  Phillis,  S.  8: 


cxxx]         THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  315 

No  stars  her  eyes  to  clear  the  wandering  night, 
But  shining  suns  of  true  divinity, 
That  make  the  soul  conceive  her  perfect  light! 
No  wanton  beauties  of  humanity 
Her  pretty  brows,  but  beams  that  clear  the  sight 
Of  him  that  seeks  the  true  philosophy! 
No  coral  is  her  lip,  no  rose  her  fair, 
But  even  that  crimson  that  adorns  the  sun;  etc. 
Krauss  (Jahrb.,  16:  200)  compares  the  5th  Song  of  A.  &  S.: 

Think  now  no  more  to  hear  of  warm  fine-odoured  snow, 
Nor  blushing  lilies,  nor  pearls  ruby-hidden  row, 
Nor  of  that  golden  sea  whose  waves  in  curls  are  broken.    - 
Dowden  adds  to  the  list  Spenser,  Amoretti,  15: 

If  sapphires,  lo,  her  eyes  be  sapphires  plain; 
If  rubies,  lo,  her  lips  be  rubies  sound; 
If  pearls,  her  teeth  be  pearls,  both  pure  and  round; 
If  ivory,  her  forehead  ivory  ween; 
If  gold,  her  locks  are  finest  gold  on  ground; 
If  silver,  her  fair  hands  are  silver  sheen.] 
Furnivall:  [With  the  chaffing  tone  of  the  description  cf.  the  poem  "  Ignoto," 
attributed  to  Marlowe: 

I  cannot  whine  in  puling  elegies, 
Entombing  Cupid  with  sad  obsequies.  .  .  . 
Sweet  wench,  I  love  thee:  yet  I  will  not  sue, 
Or  show  my  love  as  musky  courtiers  do. 

(Bullen  ed.,  3:  246-47.) 
Also  a  passage  in  the  play  of  Lingua  (before  1603):  "These  puling  lovers  —  I 
cannot  but  laugh  at  them  and  their  encomiums  of  their  mistresses.  They  make, 
forsooth,  her  hair  of  gold,  her  eyes  of  diamond,  her  cheeks  of  roses,  her  lips  of 
rubies,  her  teeth  of  pearl,  and  her  whole  body  of  ivory;  and  when  they  have 
thus  idoled  her  like  Pygmalion,  they  fall  down  and  worship  her."  (Dodsley's 
Old  Plays,  9:  370-71.)   A  similar  passage  is  in  Shirley's  The  Sisters' (W ,  ii): 

Were  it  not  fine 
If  you  should  see  your  mistress  without  hair, 
Drest  only  with  those  glittering  beams  you  talk  of? 
Two  suns  instead  of  eyes,  and  they  not  melt 
The  forehead  made  of  snow!  No  cheeks,  but  two 
Roses  inoculated  on  a  lily, 
Between  a  pendant  alabaster  nose: 
Her  lips  cut  out  of  coral,  and  no  teeth 
But  strings  of  pearl:  her  tongue  a  nightingale's! 
Would  not  this  strange  chimera  fright  yourself? 

(Quoted  by  Collier  in  a  note  to  Lingua,  as  above;  in 
Dyce's  ed.  of  Shirley,  5:  399.)] 


316  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE         [cxxx 

Dyce,  [in  a  note  to  the  passage  last  quoted,  observes  that  in  the  volume  called 
"The  Extravagant  Shepherd,  ...  an  Anti-Romance"  there  is]  a  portrait  com- 
posed somewhat  after  [Shirley's]  model:  the  hair  presents  two  nets,  in  which 
hearts  are  ensnared ;  the  forehead  is  a  Cupid ;  the  eyebrows  are  two  bows,  and 
the  eyes  two  suns;  the  cheeks  lilies  and  roses,  the  lips  two  bits  of  coral,  the  teeth 
pearls,  and  the  bosom  two  globes,  properly  mapped  out.  [This  picture  is  repro- 
duced in  Jusserand's  The  English  Novel  in  the  Time  of  Sh.  —  Ed.] 

2.  Lee:  Cf.  "coral-colored  lips"  (Zepheria,  1594,  No.  23);  "No  coral  is  her 
lips"  (Lodge's  Phillis,  1595,  No.  8).  "Ce  beau  coral"  are  the  opening  words  of 
Ronsard's  Amours,  livre  1,  No.  23,  where  a  list  is  given  of  stones  and  metals 
comparable  to  women's  features.    (Life,  p.  n8n.) 

4.  wiers.  Verity:  Cf.  Spenser's  Epithalamion:  "  Her  long  loose  yellow  locks 
like  golden  wire";  [Barnes,]  Parthenophil,  13:  "Her  hair  disordered,  brown  and 
crisped  wiry";  England's  Helicon,  (Bullen  ed.,  p.  83):  "Her  tresses  are  like 
wires  of  beaten  gold";  Diella,  S.  3:  "Her  hair  exceeds  gold  forced  in  smallest 
wire";  Hero  &  Leander,  4th  sestiad,  290:  " Her  tresses  were  of  wire,  knit  like  a 
net";  Peele,  Praise  of  Chastity:  "Whose  ticing  hair,  like  nets  of  golden  wire," 
etc.  Was  it  something  in  the  Elizabethan  coiffure  which  suggested  the  com- 
parison? Lee:  Wires  in  the  sense  of  hairs  was  peculiarly  distinctive  of  the  son- 
neteers' affected  vocabulary.  Cf.  Daniel,  Delia,  26:  "And  golden  hair  may 
change  to  silver  wire";  Lodge,  Phillis:  "Made  blush  the  beauties  of  her  curled 
wire";  Barnes,  Parthenophil,  48:  "Her  hairs  no  grace  of  golden  wires  want." 
(Life,  p~.  n8n.)  Walsh:  Sh.  himself  has  "wiry  friends,"  of  hairs,  in  K.J.,  III, 
iv,  64.  [Already  noted  by  Rolfe.]  And  the  expressions  continued  to  be  used. 
Thus  DrummOnd  has  "dear  coral  lip"  and  "threads  of  golden  wire"  (Works, 
i,  45;  ii,  151).  Of  the  latter  phrase  perhaps  the  last  appearance,  swathed  in 
quotation  marks,  is  in  Strangford's  translation  of  Camoens'  Poems  [1803], 
where  the  translator  says  he  has  taken  it  from  Drummond  (though  he  uses  it 
in  a  form  more  similar  to  Daniel's);  while  the  former  has  passed  over  into  Ger- 
many and  reappears  lustily  in  Lenau's  "schonen  Munds  Korallenrand."  (Trias 
Harmonica.)  [The  comparison  of  hair  to  wires  is  further  discussed  and  illus- 
trated in  a  note  by  Horace  Davis,  Critic,  n.s.,  19:  419.] 

5.  damaskt.  Schmidt:  Of  a  mingled  red  and  white.   [Cf.  A.  Y.  L.,  Ill,  v, 

123: 

A  little  riper  and  more  lusty  red 

Than  that  mix'd  in  his  cheek;  't  was  just  the  difference 

Betwixt  the  constant  red  and  mingled  damask.] 

8.  reekes.  Rolfe:  Properly  =  emits  vapour,  steams;  but  here  probably 
used  for  the  sake  of  the  rhyme.  [Cf.  L.  L.  L.t  IV,  iii,  140:  "Saw  sighs  reek 
from  you."] 

11.  goe.  See  note  on  51,  14. 

Minto  [regards  this  mocking  sonnet  as  evidence  for  his  view  that  this  whole 
group  of  sonnets  "to  a  courtesan"  are  best  regarded]  as  exercises  of  skill,  under- 


cxxx]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  317 

taken  in  a  spirit  of  wanton  defiance  and  derision  of  commonplace.  When  young 
Hal  was  told  of  his  father's  triumphs,  the  humorous  youth  indulged  in  a  curious 
eccentricity,  which,  if  I  am  not  in  error,  represents  exactly  the  spirit  of  these 
sonnets: 

His  answer  was,  he  would  unto  the  stews, 

And  from  the  commonest  creature  pluck  a  glove, 

And  wear  it  as  a  favour;  and  with  that 

He  would  unhorse  the  lustiest  challenger. 

[R.  2,  V,  iii,  16-19.I 

.  .  .  The  new  sonneteer  lays  down  a  humorous  challenge  —  Give  place,  ye 
lovers,  who  boast  of  beauty  and  virtue:  my  mistress  is  neither  fair  nor  faithful. 
(Char,  of  Eng.  Poets,  pp.  211-12.) 

Isaac  [cites  a  passage  in  Nash's  Pierce  Penniless,  1592,  already  noted  by 
Elze,  regarding  "an  Inamorato  Poeta "  who  will  "sonnet  a  whole  quire  of  paper 
in  praise  of  Ladie  Manibetter,  his  yellow  faced  mistress,"  and  thinks  it  may  be 
significant  in  connection  with  this  sonnet.]  The  name  Manibetter  fits  the  sonnet- 
lady  strikingly  both  in  physical  and  moral  relations.  [He  also  comments  on  the 
sonnet  asj  the  most  complete  contradiction  of  S.  99.  And  if  we  compare  the 
whole  series,  the  sonnets  of  Travel  [see  his  note  on  S.  27]  and  those  dealing  with 
the  Pain  and  Pleasure  of  Love  [a  group  in  which  he  puts  21,  36,  49,  56-58,  69- 
70,  75.  87,  91-96,  127,  130-132,  149,  151,]  we  find  the  same  contrast  throughout 
them:  the  former  entirely  under  the  domination  of  the  Italian  taste  and  the 
Italian  theories  of  love,  even  if  poetically  carried  out  through  the  genuineness 
of  the  imagination;  the  latter  so  fresh  and  unadorned,  so  purely  poetic,  as  to 
seem  to  proceed  only  from  a  poet  who  is  writing  a  drama  with  a  view  to  lashing 
the  unnaturalness  of  euphuism.    (Jahrb.,  19:  211,  208.) 

[See  -Massey's  note  at  the  end  of  S.  96.] 


318  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE      '  [cxxxi 

131 

•  Thou  art  as  tiranous,  so  as  thou  art, 

As  those  whose  beauties  proudly  make  them  cruell ; 

For  well  thou  know'st  to  my  deare  doting  hart 

Thou  art  the  fairest  and  most  precious  Iewell. 

Yet  in  good  faith  some  say  that  thee  behold,  5 

Thy  face  hath  not  the  power  to  make  loue  grone; 

To  say  they  erre,  I  dare  not  be  so  bold, 

Although  I  sweare  it  to  my  selfe  alone. 

And  to  be  sure  that  is  not  false  I  sweare  9 

A  thousand  grones  but  thinking  on  thy  face, 

One  on  anothers  necke  do  witnesse  beare 

Thy  blacke  is  fairest  in  my  iudgements  place. 

In  nothing  art  thou  blacke  saue  in  thy  deeds, 

And  thence  this  slaunder  as  I  thinke  proceeds. 

1.  art  as]  art  a  1640;  art  G2,  S2,  E.        so  as]  yes  soG\  S1;  so  G2,  S2,  E. 

3.  deare  doting]  Hyphened  by  Del,  Sta,  Dy2,  Hu2. 

9.  sweare]  sweare,  [or  swear,]  G1,  S1,  C,  M,  etc.;  swear;  G2,  S2,  E. 

1-4.  Krauss:  Cf.  Sidney,  A.  &  S.,  5th  Song,  56-61: 
I  lay  then  to  thy  charge  unjustest  tyranny! 
If  rule  by  force  without  all  claim  a  tyrant  showeth. 
For  thou  dost  lord  my  heart,  who  am  not  born  thy  slave; 
And,  which  is  worse,  makes  me  most  guiltless  torments  have. 
A  rightful  prince  by  unright  deeds  a  tyrant  groweth. 

(Jahrb.,  16:  201.) 

5.  in  good  faith.  Wyndham  [thinks  these  words  should  not  be  enclosed  in 
commas,  as  by  modern  editors  generally];  it  is  the  author's  tribute  to  the  good 
faith  of  his  mistress's  detractors.  [This  suggestion  is  followed  in  the  texts  of 
Beeching  and  Walsh.] 

6.  McClumpha:  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  II,  Prol.,  3:  "That  fair  for  which  love  groan'd 
for  and  would  die."   (Jahrb.,  40:  188.) 

13.  Tyler:  Cf.  144,  4;  147,  14. 

13-14.  Butler:  The  obviously  genuine  almost  fierceness  of  these  two  lines 
at  the  conclusion  of  a  conventional  sonnet  recall  the  concluding  lines  of  137, 
and  also  the  abrupt  changes  of  tone  in  the  ending  of  the  highly  unconventional 
sonnets  147,  148,  and  125. 

14.  this  slaunder.  Isaac:  [Contrary  to  Collier  and  others,  who  refer  this  to 


cxxxn]       THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  319 

earlier  sonnets  such  as  70,  the  sonnet  is  self-explanatory,  alluding  to  the  alle- 
gation that  the  mistress  is  ugly.  In  the  same  way  we  should  understand  "black 
deeds  "  only  of  her  tyrannical,  distant  personality.  (Archiv,  61 :  409.)]  Dowden: 
The  slander  that  her  face  has  not  the  power  to  make  love  groan. 

Sharp  [conjectures  that  the  group  131-136,  together  with  128,  139-140,  143 
and  149,  were  actually  sent  to  the  mistress,  the  others  in  this  part  of  the  collec- 
tion being  "Sh.'s  private  journal  of  his  passion."  (Intro.,  p.  21.)  See  his  note 
on  S.  141.] 


132 

Thine  eies  I  loue,  and  they  as  pittying  me, 

Knowing  thy  heart  torment  me  with  disdaine, 

Haue  put  on  black,  and  louing  mourners  bee, 

Looking  with  pretty  ruth  vpon  my  paine. 

And  truly  not  the  morning  Sun  of  Heauen  5 

Better  becomes  the  gray  cheeks  of  th'East, 

Nor  that  full  Starre  that  vshers  in  the  Eauen 

Doth  halfe  that  glory  to  the  sober  West 

As  those  two  morning  eyes  become  thy  face:  9 

O  let  it  then  as  well  beseeme  thy  heart 

To  mourne  for  me  since  mourning  doth  thee  grace, 

And  sute  thy  pitty  like  in  euery  part. 

Then  will  I  sweare  beauty  her  selfe  is  blacke, 
And  all  they  foule  that  thy  complexion  lacke. 

2.  heart]  heart,  M,  A,  B,  Cos.  •     torment]  torments  1640,  G,  S,  E,  C,  Kt, 
Co1-2,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Wh,  Hal,  Cam,  Do,  etc. 
6.  th'  Eastl  the  east,  G2,  etc. 
9.  morning]  mourning  G,  etc. 

Lee:  [This  sonnet  reproduces  Sidney's  conceit  (A.  &  S.  7;  see  under  S.  127) 
that  the  lady's  eyes  are  in  mourning  in  order  "to  honour  all  their  deaths  who 
for  her  bleed."  (Life,  p.  11911.)]  Krauss  [following  Massey  (see  note  on  127,  9), 
observes  that  it  is  only  the  eyes  that  are  black,  and  that  the  face  is  by  implica- 
tion that  of  a  blonde,  —  Sidney's  Stella  again.   (Jahrb.,  16:  188.)] 

2.  torment.  [See  the  textual  notes.  Collier,  evidently  supposing  that  he 
was  the  first  to  correct  to  "torments,"  says  that  he  owes  the  emendation  to  a 
correspondent  by  the  name  of  J.  O'Connell.] 


320  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE       [cxxxn 

5-9.  Dowden:  Cf.  T.  of  S.,  IV,  v,  31-32: 

What  stars  do  spangle  heaven  with  such  beauty, 
As  those  two  eyes  become  that  heavenly  face? 

Sarrazin:  Cf.   V.  &  A.,  485-86: 

And  as  the  bright  sun  glorifies  the  sky, 
So  is  her  face  illumin'd  with  her  eye. 

(Sh.'s  Lehrjahre,  p.  155.) 

9.  morning.  M alone:  The  context,  I  think  clearly  shows  that  the  poet 
wrote  "mourning."  [Cf.  line  3.]  The  two  words  were,  I  imagine,  in  his  time 
pronounced  alike.  In  a  sonnet  of  our  author's,  printed  by  W.  Jaggard,  1599, 
we  find:  "  In  black  morne  I."  The  same  sonnet  is  printed  in  England's  Helicon, 
1600,  and  there  the  line  stands:  "In  black  mourn  I."  Dowden:  Probably  a 
play  was  intended  on  the  words  "morning  sun"  and  "mourning  eyes."  Mas- 
sey,  [though  he  prints  the  word  "mourning,"  compares  the  passage  with  A.  & 
S.,  48;  "Soul's  joy!  bend  not  those  morning  stars  from  me."  Miss  Porter 
would  keep  "  morning,"  explaining:]  Like  the  morning  eye  of  the  sun  of  heaven. 
[With  the  possible  pun  Mr.  Horace  Davis  compares  a  line  in  Dekker's  Shoe- 
maker's Holiday,  V,  ii:  "Your  morning  mirth  my  mourning  day  hath  made."] 

11.  Cf.  127,  13. 

12.  sute.  See  note  on  127,  10.  Tyler:  Let  every  part  of  thee,  and  not  merely 
thy  eyes,  pity  me,  and  let  every  part  wear  a  similar  garb  of  mourning. 

14.  Rolfe:  Cf.  L.  L.  L.,  IV,  iii,  253  [see  under  S.  127]. 

Butler:  [This  sonnet  may  have  been  shown  to  Sh.'s  mistress]  instead  of  the 
preceding  sonnet,  which  is  much  the  same  in  substance. 


cxxxm]      THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  321 

133 
Beshrew  that  heart  that  makes  my  heart  to  groane 
For  that  deepe  wound  it  giues  my  friend  and  me ; 
I'st  not  ynough  to  torture  me  alone, 
But  slaue  to  slauery  my  sweet'st  friend  must  be. 
Me  from  my  selfe  thy  cruell  eye  hath  taken,  5 

And  my  next  selfe  thou  harder  hast  ingrossed, 
Of  him,  my  selfe,  and  thee  I  am  forsaken, 
A  torment  thrice  three-fold  thus  to  be  crossed : 
Prison  my  heart  in  thy  Steele  bosomes  warde,  9 

But  then  my  friends  heart  let  my  poore  heart  bale, 
Who  ere  keepes  me,  let  my  heart  be  his  garde, 
Thou  canst  not  then  vse  rigor  in  my  Iaile. 
And  yet  thou  wilt,  for  I  being  pent  in  thee, 
Perforce  am  thine  and  all  that  is  in  me. 

3.  alone]  along  1640. 

4.  sweet'st]  sweetest  G,  S2,  E,  B,  Kly;  sweet  S1.        be.]  be?  G,  etc. 
9.  Steele  bosomes]  Hyphened  by  Kly. 

Beeching:  This  sonnet  treats,  from  the  woman's  point  of  view,  the  same 
subject  as  Sonnets  34-35,  40-42. 

1.  Sarrazin:  Cf.  V.  &  A.,  785:  "No,  lady,  no;  my  heart  longs  not  to  groan." 
(Sh.'s  Lehrjahre,  p.  155.)  Beshrew  that  heart.  [An  adaptation  of  a  conven- 
tional imprecation.  Cf.  M.  N.  D.,  V,  i,  295:  "Beshrew  my  heart";  T.  &  C, 
IV,  ii,  29:  "Come,  come,  beshrew  your  heart";  etc.  —  Ed.] 

6.  ingrossed.  Schmidt:  Taken  the  whole  of.  [Cf.  M.  W.  W.,  II,  ii,  203: 
"Engross'd  opportunities  to  meet  her."] 

8.  crossed.  Dowden:  Cf.  34,  12;  42,  12. 

9.  Verity:  Cf.  R.  3,  I,  ii,  204-95: 

Look,  how  my  ring  encompasseth  thy  finger, 
Even  so  thy  breast  encloseth  my  poor  heart; 

and  Barnes,  Parthenophil,  16:  "That  mine  heart  in  her  body  lies  imprisoned." 
Lee:  Cf.  22,  5-7;  109,  3-4  [and  notes.  —  Ed.]. 
13-14.  Fleay:  Cf.  Drayton,  Idea,  S.  11: 

Since  you  one  were,  I  never  since  was  one; 
Since  you  in  me,  my  self  since  out  of  me. 


322  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE      [cxxxiv 

Transported  from  my  self  into  your  being, 
Though  either  distant,  present  yet  to  either. 

(Biog.  Chron.,  2:  228.) 
Walsh:  Cf.  M.V.,  III,  ii,  16-18: 

One  half  of  me  is  yours,  the  other  half  yours, 
Mine  own,  I  would  say;  but  if  mine,  then  yours, 
And  so  all  yours. 

134 

So  now  I  haue  confest  that  he  is  thine, 
And  I  my  selfe  am  morgag'd  to  thy  will, 
My  selfe  He  forfeit,  so  that  other  mine, 
Thou  wilt  restore  to  be  my  comfort  still : 
But  thou  wilt  not,  nor  he  will  not  be  free,  5 

For  thou  art  couetous,  and  he  is  kinde, 
He  learnd  but  suretie-like  to  write  for  me, 
Vnder  that  bond  that  him  as  fast  doth  binde. 
The  statute  of  thy  beauty  thou  wilt  take,  9 

Thou  vsurer  that  put'st  forth  all  to  vse, 
And  sue  a  friend,  came  debter  for  my  sake, 
So  him  I  loose  through  my  vnkinde  abuse. 
Him  haue  I  lost,  thou  hast  both  him  and  me, 
He  paies  the  whole,  and  yet  am  I  not  free. 

4.  restore  to  be]  restore,  to  beh,  M,  etc.;  restore  tomeG1;  restore  to  me,  G*, 
S,  E. 

9.  thy]  my  B. 
12.  loose]  lose  G,  etc. 
14.  am  I]  I  am  1640,  G,  S,  E. 

Lee:  The  legal  terminology  in  this  sonnet  (cf.  87,  3-4)  again  closely  resem- 
bles that  employed  by  Barnes  in  his  Parthenoph.il,  Sonnets  8,  9,  and  1 1 ,  where 
"mortgage,"  "bail,"  "forfeit,"  "forfeiture,"  "deed  of  gift"  are  all  applied  to 
the  mistress's  hold  on  the  lover's  heart.  This  sort  of  phraseology,  applied  to 
amorous  purposes,  was  well  satirised  by  Sir  John  Davies  in  his  Gulling  Sonnets, 
of  which  No.  7  opens:  "  Into  the  middle  temple  of  my  heart."  Tyler:  It  would 
seem  [from  this  sonnet]  that  it  was  on  some  business  of  Sh.'s  that  His  friend  had 
first  gone  to  the  lady.   (Quarto  Facsimile,  Intro.,  p.  xix.) 


cxxxv]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  323 

2.  Fleay:  Cf.  Drayton,  Idea,  S.  3: 

My  heart  hath  paid  such  grievous  usury 
•    That  all  their  wealth  lies  in  thy  beauty's  books. 

(Biog.  Chron.,  2:  228.) 
will.  Lee:  Her  personality,  in  which  "will,"  in  the  double  sense  of  stubborn- 
ness and  sensual  passion,  is  the  strongest  element.  .  .  .  The  word  is  not  here 
italicised  in  [the  Q],  and  there  is  no  ground  whatever  for  detecting  in  it  any 
sort  of  pun  [i.e.,  as  in  S.  135].   (Life,  p.  425.) 

3.  other  mine.  Dowden:  Other  myself,  my  alter  ego. 

9.  statute.  M alone:  [The  word]  has  here  its  legal  signification,  that  of  a 
security  or  obligation  for  money. 

10.  use.  See  note  on  6,  5. 

n.  came.  [For  the  omission  of  the  relative,  see  Abbott's  note  on  4,  4.  For 
the  shortened  verb  form  ("  came  "  =  became)  see  his  note  on  46,  9.] 
12.  abuse.  Tyler:  In  exposing  him  to  the  danger. 

Von  Mauntz  [thinks  that  this  sonnet  is  addressed  by  a  woman  to  her  rival, 
and  that  in  lines  7-8  she  speaks  of  her  marriage  contract.    (Jahrb.,  28:  282.)] 

135 
Who  euer  hath  her  wish,  thou  hast  thy  Will, 
And  Will  too  boote,  and  Will  in  ouer-plus, 
More  then  enough  am  I  that  vexe  thee  still, 
To  thy  sweet  will  making  addition  thus. 
Wilt  thou  whose  will  is  large  and  spatious,  5 

Not  once  vouchsafe  to  hide  my  will  in  thine, 
Shall  will  in  others  seeme  right  gracious, 
And  in  my  will  no  faire  acceptance  shine: 
*  The  sea  all  water,  yet  receiues  raine  still,  9 

And  in  aboundance  addeth  to  his  store, 
So  thou  beeing  rich  in  Will  adde  to  thy  Will, 
One  will  of  mine  to  make  thy  large  Will  more. 
Let  no  vnkinde,  no  faire  beseechers  kill, 
Thinke  all  but  one,  and  me  in  that  one  Will. 

2.  too]  to  S,  etc. 

4.  will]  Italics  by  L. 

6,  8.  thine, .  .  .  shine:]  thine,  .  .  .  shine?  L;  thine?  .  .  .  shine?  G,  etc. 
13.  vnkinde,  no]  unkind  "No'1  Do  conj.,  Ox;  unkind  no  Ty,  Be;  unkindness 
But,  Wa.       faire]  your  Ty  conj.       kill]  skill  Rossetti  conj. 


324  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE        [cxxxv 

Halliwell:  Cf.  Parrot's  Laquei  Ridiculosi,  or  Springes  for  Woodcocks,  1613: 
Kinde  Katheren  to  her  husband  kist  these  words, 
Mine  owne  sweet  Will,  how  deerely  doe  I  love  thee? 
If  true,  quoth  Will,  the  world  no  such  affords, 
And  that  't  is  true  I  durst  his  warrant  be: 
For  nere  heard  I  of  woman  good  or  ill 
But  alwayes  loved  best  her  owne  sweet  Will. 

Dowden:  In  this  sonnet,  in  the  next,  and  in  S.  143,  the  Q  marks  by  italics  and 
capital  W  the  play  on  words,  Will  =  William  (Sh.),  Will  =  William,  the  Chris- 
tian name  of  Sh.'s  friend  (?Mr.  W.  H.),  and  Will  =  desire,  volition.  Here  "  Will 
in  overplus"  means  Will  Sh.,  as  the  next  line  shows,  "More  than  enough  am 
I."  The  first  "Will"  means  desire  (but  as  we  know  that  his  lady  had  a  husband, 
it  is  possible  that  he  also  may  have  been  a  "  Will,"  and  that  the  first  "Will"  here 
mayreferto  him,  beside  meaning  "desire");  the  second  "Will"  is  Sh.'s  friend. 
Tyler:  The  dark  lady  has  the  "Will"  of  the  poet's  friend,  meaning,  no  doubt, 
William  Herbert.  .  .  .  An  exceedingly  interesting  parallel  to  this  and  following 
sonnets  is  found  in  the  Dedication  by  John  Davies  to  his  "Select  Second  Hus- 
band for  Sir  Thomas  Overbury's  Wife,  now  a  Matchless  Widow"  (1606).  And 
it  is  specially  appropriate  as  being  addressed  to"  William  Earle  of  Pembroke": 

Wit  and  my  Will  (deere  Lord)  were  late  at  strife, 
To  whom  this  Bridegroome  I  for  grace  might  send 
Who  Bride  was  erst  the  happiest  husbands  wife 
That  ere  was  haplesse  in  his  Friend,  and  End. 
Wit,  with  it  selfe,  and  with  my  Will,  did  warre, 
For  Will  (good-Will)  desir'd  it  might  be  YOU. 
But  Wit  found  fault  with  each  particular 
It  selfe  had  made;  sith  YOU  were  It  to  view;  etc. 

(Grosart's  Chertsey  Worthies'  Library.) 

Lee:  The  groundwork  of  the  pleasantry  is  the  identity  in  form  of  the  proper 
name  with  the  common  noun  "will."  This  word  connoted  in  Elizabethan 
English  a  generous  variety  of  conceptions,  of  most  of  which  it  has  long  since 
been  deprived.  Then,  as  now,  it  was  employed  in  the  general  psychological 
sense  of  volition;  but  it  was  more  often  specifically  applied  to  two  limited  mani- 
festations of  the  volition.  It  was  the  commonest  of  synonyms  alike  for  "self- 
will"  or  "stubbornness"  —  in  which  sense  it  still  survives  in  "wilful"  —  and 
for  "lust"  or  "sensual  passion."  It  also  did  occasional  duty  for  its  own  dimin- 
utive "wish,"  for  "caprice,"  for  "good-will,"  and  for  "free  consent"  (as  nowa- 
days in  "willing"  or  "willingly  ").  Sh.  constantly  used  "will"  in  all  these  sig- 
nifications. ...  [In  one]  of  Iago's  sentences,  "Love  is  merely  a  lust  of  the  blood 
and  a  permission  of  the  will,"  light  is  shed  on  the  process  by  which  the  word 
came  to  be  specifically  applied  to  sensual  desire.  The  last  is  a  favourite  sense 
with  Sh.  and  his  contemporaries.  [Cf.  M.for  M.,  II,  iv,  164;  A.W.,  IV,  iii,  19; 
Lear,  IV,  vi,  278;  with  passages  from  Sidney,  Lodge,  and  Breton.]  ...  It  was 
not  only  in  the  sonnets  that  Sh.  —  almost  invariably  with  a  glance  at  its  sen- 


cxxxv]       THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  325 

sual  significance  —  rang  the  changes  on  this  many-faced  verbal  token.  [Cf. 
L.  L.  L.,  II,  i,  99-100;  Much  Ado,  V,  iv,  26-29;  M.  W.  W.,  Ill,  iv,  58;  etc.]  .  .  . 
The  corrector  of  the  press  recognised  that  Sonnets  135-136  largely  turned  upon 
a  simple  pun  between  the  writer's  name  of  Will  and  the  lady's  "will."  That 
fact,  and  no  other,  he  indicated  very  roughly  by  occasionally  italicising  the 
crucial  word.  Typography  at  the  time  followed  no  firmly  fixed  rules,  and, 
although  "will"  figures  in  a  more  or  less  punning  sense  19  times  in  these  son- 
nets, the  printer  only  bestowed  on  the  word  the  distinction  of  italics  in  10 
instances,  and  these  were  selected  arbitrarily.  .  .  .  They  give  no  hint  of  the  far 
more  complicated  punning  that  is  alleged  by  those  who  believe  that  "Will"  is 
used  now  as  the  name  of  the  writer,  and  now  as  that  of  one  or  more  of  the  rival 
suitors.  .  .  .  Similar  passages  abound  in  Elizabethan  sonnets,  but  certain  verbal 
similarities  give  good  ground  for  regarding  Sh.'s  "will"  sonnets  as  deliberate 
adaptations  —  doubtless  with  satiric  purpose  —  of  Barnes's  stereotyped  reflec- 
tions on  women's  obduracy  [e.g.,  Parthenophil,  Sestine  2: 

But  women  will  have  their  own  wills,  .  .  . 
Since  what  she  lists  her  heart  fulfills.] 

The  form  and  the  constant  repetition  of  the  word  "will"  in  these  two  sonnets 
of  Sh.  also  seem  to  imitate  derisively  the  same  rival's  Sonnets  72-73,  in  which 
•  Barnes  puts  the  words  "grace"  and  "graces"  through  much  the  same  evolu- 
tions as  Sh.  puts  the  words  "will"  and  "wills."  (Life,  pp.  416-21.)  [See  Lee's 
further  notes,  especially  on  136,  13-14  and  143,  13,  with  reference  to  the  ques- 
tion of  more  than  one  Will.  In  his  edition  of  Sh.  he  comments  further  on  the 
typographical  problem,  saying  that  the  word  "will"  is  so  often  printed  as  here 
in  Elizabethan  books  that  the  typography  gives  no  good  ground  for  detecting 
puns.]  Cf.  John  Davies's  Summa  Totalis  (1607),  where  in  the  last  26  stanzas 
the  substantive  "Will"  is  used  30  times;  it  is  italicised  with  the  initial  capital 
12  times,  and  has  the  initial  capital  without  the  italics  16  times;  such  are  mere 
typographical  vagaries.  Archer:  [This  sonnet  makes  it  clear  that  Sh.  speaks 
both  of  his  mistress's  will  and  Will  his  friend.]  The  only  doubtful  point  ...  is 
whether  there  be  not  a  third  "Will,"  a  third  lover  in  the  case.  .  .  .  The  whole 
thing  is  flatly  meaningless  unless  there  are  two.  (Fort.  Rev.,  n.s.,  62:  832.) 
Mackail:  [While  these  sonnets  suggest  the  view  that  the  friend's  name  was 
Will,]  they  do  not  necessitate  it:  if  analysed  closely,  they  will  be  found  to  con- 
tain no  thought  or  phrase  which  is  not  satisfied  by  a  play  of  words  between  the 
poet's  own  name  and  the  various  senses  which  the  word  "will"  bears  as  a 
common  noun.  (Led.  on  Poetry,  p.  194.)  Wyndham:  We  learn  from  this  and 
other  numbers  [that  Will  was]  the  name  of  both  the  poet  and  his  friend.  [See 
further,  on  this  matter,  the  notes  on  line  2.] 

1.  Lee:  An  allusion  to  the  current  cant  phrase,  which  was  utilised  as  the 
name  of  a  popular  comedy  by  William  Haughton,  c.  1597,  "A  woman  will  have 
her  will."  Beeching:  If  "will"  [in  this  line]  were  a  proper  name,  we  should 
expect  in  line  4  "thy  sweet  wills." 


326  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE       [cxxxv 

2.  Massey:  [This]  line  only  indicates  the  abundance  and  overplus  of  the 
lady's  capacity  of  Will  (not  one  or  rather  two  more  "  Wills"  by  name) ;  hence  the 
context:  .  .  .  "To  thy  sweet  will  (not  Wills)  making  addition  thus."  (p.  224.) 
From  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  sonnets  there  is  but  one  "Will";  in 
each  case  he  is  the  speaker,  and  nowhere  is  he  the  person  who  is  spoken  to. 
(p.  34.)  Butler:  Both  the  "Wills"  I  take  to  be  Mr.  W.  H.  Beeching:  The 
third  Will  here  must  be  Sh.,  because  "Will  in  overplus"  corresponds  to  "more 
than  enough  am  I";  and  few  critics  with  the  143d  Sonnet  also  in  mind  would 
hesitate  to  refer  the  second  Will  to  Sh.'s  friend,  for  whom  the  "dark  lady"  had 
been  laying  snares.  But  the  Southamptonites,  who  cannot  allow  that  the 
friend's  name  was  Will,  are  constrained  to  deny  that  there  is  any  pun  at  all  in 
143,  and  to  refer  that  in  135  to  the  distinction  between  "will"  in  its  ordinary 
sense  and  "will"  in  the  sense  of  "desire."  But  the  balance  of  the  line  makes  it 
almost  necessary  that,  as  "Will  in  overplus"  must  be  a  proper  name,  "Will  to 
boot"  should  be  a  proper  name  also.   (Intro.,  p.  xxxvii.) 

3.  am  I.  Halliwell:  Query  —  J  am?  In  Sh.'s  time  quibbles  of  this  kind 
were  common.  [He  cites  one  from  the  Book  of  Merry  Riddles,  161 3,  where  tarn 
added  to  Will  =  William.] 

4.  Butler:  I  suspect  the  "will"  to  be  a  printer's  error  for  Will,  i.e.,  Sh. 
9.  Isaac:  Cf.  T.N.,  I,  i,  11 :  "Thy  capacity  receiveth  as  the  sea,"  and  II, 

iv,  103:  "[My  love]  is  all  as  hungry  as  the  sea."    (Archiv,  59:  252.)  Walsh: 
Cf.  R.  &  /.,  II,  ii,  133-34: 

My  bounty  is  as  boundless  as  the  sea, 

My  love  as  deep. 

Lee:  Cf.  3H.  6,  V,  iv,  8-9: 

Add  water  to  the  sea 
And  give  more  strength  to  that  which  hath  too  much. 

12.  Walsh:  It  looks  as  though  the  Q  had  here  capitalised  and  italicised  the 
wrong  "will." 

13.  Palgrave:  Let  no  unkindness,  no  fairspoken  rivals  destroy  me.  W.  M. 
Rossetti :  "  Kill "  can  hardly  be  right,  and  "skill "  would  make  more  sense  .  .  . 
in  the  signification  of  "avail,  succeed."  (Lives,  p.  54.)  Isaac:  Let  not  thine 
unfriendliness  slay  sincere  admirers.  Dowden:  If  this  be  the  true  reading,  we 
must  take  "unkind"  as  a  substantive,  meaning  "unkind  one"  (i.e.,  his  lady). 
So  in  Daniel's  Delia,  S.  2:  "And  tell  th'Unkind  how  dearly  I  have  lov'd  her." 
But  perhaps  the  line  ought  to  be  printed  thus:  "Let  no  unkind  'No'  fair  be- 
seechers  kill."  Schmidt  [defines  "unkind,"  with  a  query,  as  a  substantive 
meaning  " unnaturalness,  averseness  to  the  works  of  love."  Rolfe  feels 
"strongly  tempted"  to  adopt  Dowden's  emendation.  Sharp  accepts  it,  with 
the  interpretation,  "Let  no  unkind  rejection  of  them  kill  such  fair  arguments."] 
Massey:  [Dowden's  reading]  is  to  set  up  a  plea  on  behalf  of  any  number  of 
rivals,  and  then  to  make  the  speaker  ask  that  they  may  be  mistaken  for  him, 
if  they  only  bespeak  her  fairly.  "Fair"  is  Shakespearean  for  to  "make  fair," 
which  shows  the  antithesis  to  "unkind"  or  unnatural.  I  read  the  last  two  lines 


cxxxv]       THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  327 

as  meaning,  "Let  neither  of  this  class  of  beseechers  conquer  or  kill,  but  think 
the  whole  of  your  suitors  one,  and  that  one  me."  (p.  224.)  Tyler:  I  am  in- 
clined to  accept  [Dowden's  emendation],  with  the  exception  that  "your"  would 
seem  preferable  to  "fair."  Wyndham:  The  rhythm,  clearly  indicated  by  a 
comma  after  "no"  [Evidently  an  error  for  "after  'unkind.'  "  —  Ed.]  in  Q, 
would  be  shattered  by  [Dowden's]  emendation.  Butler  [defending  his  emenda- 
tion "  unkindness " :]  I  am  told  that  the  abbreviation  "ne,"  with  an  elongated 
e,  was  in  common  use  for  "nesse"  at  the  close  of  the  16th  century.  If  this  "ne" 
in  the  MS.  was  ever  so  little  detached  from  the  foregoing  part  of  the  word,  it 
would  corrupt  readily  into  the  text  of  Q.  [Herford,  though  his  text  reads  as 
in  Q,  writes  a  note  apparently  based  on  Dowden's  emendation.]  Beeching: 
Let  no  unkindness  kill  any  beseechers.  For  the  adjective  used  as  a  noun,  cf. 
"fair,"  16,  11,  etc.  Dowden's  suggestion  ...  is  ingenious;  but  the  next  line, 
"Think  all  but  one,"  seems  to  require  "no  fair  beseechers."  Lee:  Let  not  my 
mistress  in  her  unkindness  kill  any  of  her  fair-spoken  adorers.  (Life,  p.  422.) 
[Agreement  on  this  line  is  probably  out  of  the  question.  Though  usually  sus- 
picious of  arguments  based  on  rhythmical  taste,  I  cannot  help  agreeing  with 
Wyndham  that  Dowden's  reading  is  metrically  outrageous.  On  the  other  hand, 
Butler's  emendation,  perhaps  alone  of  his  many  efforts  to  better  the  text,  seems 
to  me  far  from  despicable;  and  if  one  should  combine  it  with  Tyler's  "your," 
the  result  would  be  attractive.  There  is  no  warrant  in  usage  for  taking  "un- 
kind "  as  the  abstract  noun  ' '  unkindness. "  "  Fair  "  as  a  substantive  is  analogous, 
to  be  sure,  but  was  an  independently  well-established  Elizabethan  noun.  —  Ed.] 
14.  Lee:  Let  her  think  all  who  beseech  her  favours  incorporate  in  one  alone  of 
her  lovers  —  and  that  one  the  writer,  whose  name  of  "Will"  is  a  synonym  for 
the  passions  that  dominate  her.   (Life,  p.  422.) 

Isaac  [remarks  of  this  sonnet  and  136,  as  well  as  of  153-154,  that]  they  are 
so  filled  with  subtleties  and  plays  on  words,  so  wholly  wrought  in  the  conven- 
tional Italian  taste,  and  show  so  extraordinarily  little  of  Sh.'s  specific  character- 
istics, that  [they  may  be  thought  to  be  even  earlier  than  those  that  stand  at  the 
opening  of  the  collection,  and  than   V.  &  A],   (Jahrb.,  19:  196.) 

Butler  [believes  the  sonnet  was  written  for  Mr.  W.  H.  to  give  to  Sh.'s  mis- 
tress ("who  is  now  in  her  turn  coy")  as  if  written  by  himself.] 


328  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE      [cxxxvi 

136 

If  thy  soule  check  thee  that  I  come  so  neere, 
Sweare  to  thy  blind  soule  that  I  was  thy  Will, 
And'  will  thy  soule  knowes  is  admitted  there, 
Thus  farre  for  loue,  my  loue-sute  sweet  fullfi.ll. 
Will,  will  fulfill  the  treasure  of  thy  loue,  5 

I  fill  it  full  with  wils,  and  my  will  one, 
In  things  of  great  receit  with  ease  we  prooue, 
Among  a  number  one  is  reckon'd  none. 
Then  in  the  number  let  me  passe  vntold,  9 

Though  in  thy  stores  account  I  one  must  be, 
For  nothing  hold  me,  so  it  please  thee  hold, 
That  nothing  me,  a  some-thing  sweet  to  thee. 
Make  but  my  name  thy  loue,  and  loue  that  still, 
And  then  thou  louest  me  for  my  name  is  Will. 

4.  sweet]  (sweet)  C;  between  commas  by  M,  etc.  (except  But,  first  comma 
only). 

6.  I]  Ay,  C,  M,  etc. 

7.  prooue,]  prove;  M,  A,  Kt,  Hu\  Kly,  Co3;  prove  Dy,  Sta,  Gl,  Cam,  Do, 
etc. 

10.  stores]  store's  G2,  S2,  E,  C,  Hal,  Do,  Hu2,  R,  Ty,  Cam2,  But,  Be,  N,  Bull; 
stores1  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Hu1,  Del,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Wh,  Cam1,  Ox,  Wy,  Her, 
Wa. 

12.  nothing  me]  Hyphened  by  G1,  S1.  sweet]  (sweet)  C;  between  commas 
by  Walker  conj.,  Dy2,  Co3,  Hu2,  But,  Be,  Bull. 

1.  check.  Schmidt:  Chide.   [Cf.  58,  7.] 

2.  blind  soule.  Lee:  Sh.  refers  to  the  blindness,  the  "sightless  view"  of  the 
soul,  in  S.  27,  and  apostrophises  the  soul  as  the  "centre  of  his  sinful  earth"  in 
S.  146.  (Life,  p.  422n.)  [It  is  certain  that  the  reference  to  S.  27  is  irrelevant, 
for  there  the  soul  has  a  view  which  is  "sightless"  only  because  the  eyes  cannot 
see  in  the  dark;  that  to  S.  146  is  somewhat  cryptic.  —  Ed.]  thy  Will.  Beeching: 
Perhaps  "thy  husband  Will,"  or  "my  friend."  But  the  third  line  renders  the 
conjecture  unnecessary. 

3.  will.  Beeching:  Carnal  desire  [as  in  line  5].  Cf.  Lucrece,  495:  "But 
Will  is  deaf  and  hears  no  heedful  friends." 

6.  I.  Dowden:  The  usual  way  of  printing  our  "Ay"  at  the  time;  but  possi- 
bly there  may  here  (as  often  elsewhere  in  Sh.)  be  a  play  on  the  words  "  I "  =  ay, 


cxxxvi]      THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  329 

yes,  and  "I"  =  myself,  wils.  Lee:  The  varied  forms  of  will,  i.e.,  lusts,  stub- 
bornness, etc. 

7.  receit.  Schmidt:  Capacity,  power  of  receiving  and  containing.  ["Things 
of  great  receipt "  =  large  matters.  —  Ed.]  proove.  [The  persistence  of  Malone's 
unintelligible  semi-colon  after  this  word  is  remarkable.  For  the  meaning,  cf. 
72,  4,  and  note.  —  Ed.] 

8.  [See  Dowden's  note  on  8,  14.  In  connection  with  the  latter  passage 
Wyndham  quotes  from  Cocker's  Arithmetick,  1664:  "Most  authors  maintain 
that  Unit  is  the  beginning  of  numbers  and  it  self  no  number";  also  from  Mar- 
lowe, H.  &  L.: 

One  is  no  number;  maids  are  nothing,  then, 
Without  the  sweet  society  of  men.] 

9-10.  Dowden:  You  need  not  count  me  when  merely  counting  the  number 
of  those  who  hold  you  dear,  but  when  estimating  the  worth  of  your  possessions 
you  must  have  regard  to  me. 

10.  stores.  See  textual  notes.  Schmidt:  Used  only  in  the  singular;  there- 
fore [read]  "store's,"  not  "stores'." 

11-12.  McClumpha:  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  I,  i,  183:  "O  anything,  of  nothing  first 
create."   (Jahrb.,  40:  197.) 

12.  sweet.  [See  textual  notes.  The  "sweet"  of  line  4  is,  one  might  say^,  an 
argument  for  the  reading  of  Walker  and  Dyce;  on  the  other  hand,  "to  me" 
seems  to  call  for  the  construction  which  is  generally  accepted.  —  Ed.] 

13-14.  Dowden:  Love  only  my  name  (something  less  than  loving  myself), 
and  then  thou  lovest  me,  for  my  name  is  Will,  and  I  myself  am  all  will,  i.e.,  all 
desire.  Tyler:  You  love  your  other  admirer  named  Will.  Love  the  name  alone, 
and  then  you  love  me,  for  my  name  is  Will.  Lee:  "  Make  '  will ' "  (i.e.,  that  which 
is  yourself)  "your  love,  and  then  you  love  me,  because  Will  is  my  name."  The 
couplet  proves  even  more  convincingly  than  the  one  which  clinches  the  pre- 
ceding sonnet  that  none  of  the  rivals  whom  the  poet  sought  to  displace  in  the 
lady's  affections  could  by  any  chance  have  been,  like  himself,  called  Will.  The 
writer  could  not  appeal  to  a  mistress  to  concentrate  her  love  on  his  name  of 
Will,  because  it  was  the  emphatic  sign  of  identity  between  her  being  and  him, 
if  that  name  were  common  to  him  and  one  or  more  rivals,  and  lacked  exclusive 
reference  to  himself.  .  .  .  The  whole  significance  of  both  couplets  resides  in  the 
twice-repeated  fact  that  one,  and  only  one,  of  the  lady's  lovers  is  named  Will, 
and  that  that  one  is  the  writer.   (Life,  p.  424.) 

[After  this  sonnet  Sharp  inserts  the  one  appearing  as  No.  3  in  The  Passionate 
Pilgrim  (also  in  L.  L.  L.,  IV,  iii,  60-73): 

Did  not  the  heavenly  rhetoric  of  thine  eye, 
'Gainst  whom  the  world  could  not  hold  argument, 
Persuade  my  heart  to  this  false  perjury? 
Vows  for  thee  broke  deserve  not  punishment. 
A  woman  I  forswore;  but  I  will  prove, 
Thou  being  a  goddess,  I  forswore  not  thee: 


330  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE     [cxxxvn 

My  vow  was  earthly,  thou  a  heavenly  love; 
Thy  grace  being  gain'd  cures  all  disgrace  in  me. 
My  vow  was  breath,  and  breath  a  vapour  is; 
Then,  thou  fair  sun,  that  on  this  earth  doth  shine, 
Exhale  this  vapour  vow;  in  thee  it  is: 
If  broken,  then  it  is  no  fault  of  mine; 
If  by  me  broke,  what  fool  is  not  so  wise 
To  break  an  oath  to  win  a  paradise? 

He  calls  attention  to  the  appearance  in  the  present  collection  of  two  sonnets 
(138  and  144)  which  were  included  in  The  Pass.  Pilg.,  and  believes  this  one  fits 
in  here]  with  peculiar  applicability.  It  is  the  last  time  that  Sh.  hints  there  is 
anything  more  in  his  love  than  thraldom  to  a  strong  and  subtle  passion. 


137 
Thou  blinde  foole  loue,  what  doost  thou  to  mine  eyes, 
That  they  behold  and  see  not  what  they  see : 
They  know  what  beautie  is,  see  where  it  lyes, 
Yet  what  the  best  is,  take  the  worst  to  be: 
If  eyes  corrupt  by  ouer-partiall  lookes,  5 

Be  anchord  in  the  baye  where  all  men  ride, 
Why  of  eyes  falsehood  hast  thou  fgrged  hookes, 
Whereto  the  iudgement  of  my  heart  is  tide? 
Why  should  my  heart  thinke  that  a  seuerall  plot,  9 

Which  my  heart  knowes  the  wide  worlds  common  place? 
Or  mine  eyes  seeing  this,  say  this  is  not 
To  put  faire  truth  vpon  so  foule  a  face, 

In  things  right  true  my  heart  and  eyes  haue  erred, 
And  to  this  false  plague  are  they  now  transferred. 

2.  see:]  see?  G,  etc. 

11.  not]  not,  S1,  C,  M,  etc. 

12.  face,]  face?  G2,  C,  M,  etc. 

13.  right  true]  Hyphened  by  Del,  Sta,  Dy2,  Hu2,-  Bull. 

Massey  [compares  this  sonnet,  as  well  as  141,  148,  and  150,  for  the  theme  of 
distorted  eyesight,  with  Sidney's  A.  &  S.,  34:  "Stella's  great  powers,  that  so 
confuse  my  mind."  (p.  246.)]  Lee  [compares  it  (and  148  and  150),  for  its  un- 
flattering attitude,  with  No.  7  of  Jodelle's  Contr'  Amours  {Oeuvres,  1597,  pp. 
91-94)0 


cxxxvn]     THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  331 

Combien  de  fois  mes  vers  ont-ils  dore 
Ces  cheveux  noirs  dignes  d'une  Meduse? 
Combien  de  fois  ce  teint  noir  qui  m'amuse, 
Ay-ie  de  lis  et  roses  colore? 
Combien  ce  front  de  rides  laboure 
Ay-ie  applani?  et  quel  a  fait  ma  Muse 
Le  gros  sourcil,  ou  folle  elle  s'abuse, 
Ayant  sur  luy  l'arc  d'Amour  figure? 
Quel  ay-ie  fait  son  ceil  se  renfoncant? 
Quel  ay-ie  fait  son  grand  nez  rougissant? 
Quelle  sa  bouche  et  ses  noires  dents  quelles? 
Quel  ay-ie  fait  le  reste  de  ce  corps? 
Qui,  me  sentant  endurer  mille  morts, 
Vivoit  heureux  de  mes  peines  mortelles. 

{Life,  p.  I22n.) 

[Most  readers  would  probably  find  matter  for  contrast  rather  than  comparison, 
in  both  these  instances.  —  Ed.] 

1.  blinde  foole  love.  Isaac:  Cf.  A.  Y.  L.,  IV,  i,  218:  "That  blind  rascally 
boy  that  abuses  every  one's  eyes  because  his  own  are  out." 

6.  Malone:  Cf.  A.  &  C,  I,  v,  33:  "There  would  he  anchor  his  aspect" 
[i.e.,  in  Cleopatra's  brow.]  Rolfe:  Cf.  M.for  M.,  II,  iv,  4:  "My  invention  .  .  . 
anchors  on  Isabel";  Cymb.,  V,  v,  393:  "Posthumus  anchors  upon  Imogen." 

9.  severall.  Malone:  Cf.  L.  L.  L.,  II,  i,  223:  "My  lips  are  no  common, 
though  several  they  be."  [In  a  note  on  the  latter  passage,  Steevens  quotes 
Fenton's  Tragical  Discourses  (1597):  "He  entered  commons  in  the  place  which 
the  olde  John  thought  to  be  reserved  severall  to  himself."  See  othe/ notes, 
ibid.]  Halliwell:  Fields  that  were  enclosed  were  called  "severals"  in  opposi- 
tion to  "commons,"  the  former  belonging  to  individuals,  the  others  to  the 
inhabitants  generally.  When  commons  were  enclosed,  portions  allotted  to 
owners  of  freeholds,  copyholds,  and  cottages,  were  fenced  in,  and  termed 
"severals."  (Quoted  by  Rolfe.)  Tyler:  Cf.  Peacham,  Worth  of  a  Penny: 
"Others,  not  affecting  marriage  at  all,  live,  as  they  say,  'upon  the  (commons'; 
unto  whom  it  is  death  to  be  put  into  the  Several."    (Eng.  Garnpr,  6:  261.) 

10.  F.  V.  Hugo:  Cf.  Moliere,  Le  Misanthrope: 

Celimlne.  Mais  de  tout  l'univers  vous  devenez  jaloux. 
Alceste.  C'est  que  tout  l'univers  est  bien  recu  de  vous. 

13.  Stopes:  [Cf.  36,  10.] 

[Note  the  close  relation  of  this  sonnet  with  148-150,  which  Walsh  not  un- 
reasonably places  immediately  after  it.  —  Ed.] 


332  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE    [cxxxvm 

138 

When  my  loue  sweares  that  she  is  made  of  truth, 

I  do  beleeue  her  though  I  know  she  lyes, 

That  she  might  thinke  me  some  vntuterd  youth, 

Vnlearned  in  the  worlds  false  subtilties. 

Thus  vainely  thinking  that  she  thinkes  me  young,  5 

Although  she  knowes  my  dayes  are  past  the  best, 

Simply  I  credit  her  false  speaking  tongue, 

On  both  sides  thus  is  simple  truth  supprest: 

But  wherefore  sayes  she  not  she  is  vniust?  9 

And  wherefore  say  not  I  that  I  am  old? 

O  loues  best  habit  is  in  seeming  trust, 

And  age  in  loue,  loues  not  t'haue  yeares  told. 

Therefore  I  lye  with  her,  and  she  with  me, 

And  in  our  faults  by  lyes  we  flattered  be. 

7.  false  speaking]  Hyphened  by  S\  M,  etc. 
12.  t'haue]  to  have  C,  M,  etc.  (except  Bull). 
[See  below  for  the  text  of  1599,  1640,  etc.] 

[The  chief  interest  of  this  sonnet  is  in  the  fact  that  it  had  appeared  as  the 
first  poem  of  The  Passionate  Pilgrim,  1599,  with  a  somewhat  different  text,  as 
follows: 

When  my  Love  sweares  that  she  is  made  of  truth, 

I  doe  beleeve  her  (though  I  know  she  lies) 

That  she  might  thinke  me  some  untutor'd  youth, 

Unskilfull  in  the  worlds  false  forgeries. 

Thus  vainly  thinking  that  she  thinkes  me  young, 

Although  I  know  my  yeares  be  past  the  best: 

I  smiling,  credite  her  false  speaking  toung, 

Outfacing  faults  in  Love,  with  loves  ill  rest. 

But  wherefore  sayes  my  Love  that  she  is  young? 

And  wherefore  say  not  I,  that  I  am  old? 

O,  Loves  best  habite  is  a  soothing  toung, 

And  Age  (in  Love)  loves  not  to  have  yeares  told. 
Therfore  lie  lye  with  Love,  and  Love  with  me, 
Since  that  our  faults  in  Love  thus  smother'd  be. 

Delius  observes  that  the  P.P.  version]  clearly  shows  that  the  text  given  by 
Thorpe  [in  the  Q]  was  the  original.  The  sonnet  then  dates  at  least  bafore  1599, 


cxxxvm]    THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  333 

therefore  at  least  before  the  35th  year  of  the  poet  who  here  represents  himself 
as  an  old  man  in  love,  —  a  circumstance  which  of  itself  might  perplex  an  auto- 
biographical interpreter.  (Jahrb.,  1 :  53.)  Isaac:  From  a  comparison  of  the  two 
texts  that  of  1609  appears  the  better  in  every  respect.  .  .  .  [The  P.P.  version 
was  probably]  a  corruption  of  the  original  published  in  1609.  (Archiv,  61 :  400.) 
Massey:  [If  the  two  versions]  are  carefully  compared,  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
subject  involves  more  than  "Age  in  love,"  and  that  the  second  version  was 
modified  of  set  purpose  to  conceal  a  fact  which  was  manifest  in  the  first  one. 
As  amended  it  is  made  to  look  as  though  the  "Age  in  love"  was  applicable  to 
both  lovers,  and  that  both  were  telling  lies  on  the  same  ground  of  fact.  But  if 
both  were  old  there  would  be  no  inequality  and  no  need  of  falsehood  or  disguise. 
That  the  lady  was  old,  or  the  elder,  is  certain.  This  is  proved  by  the  suppressed 
lines  —  "But  wherefore  says  my  Love  that  she  is  young?"  (p.  251.)  Tyler: 
A  comparison  of  [lines  7-8]  can  scarcely  leave  a  doubt  of  intentional  alteration. 
"Outfacing  faults  with  love's  ill  rest"  agrees  with  the  forced  smile  of  the  pre- 
vious line:  "I  smiling  credit  her  falsehood."  In  the  second  version,  one  might 
think  "smiling"  would  have  been  better  than  "simply";  but  "simply"  and 
"simple"  have  come  in  together.  [The  change  in  line  4,  in  1609,  is]  a  tolerably 
manifest  improvement,  (pp.  135-36.)  According  to  the  [P.P.  version,  line  9], 
the  dark  lady  falsely  declared  herself  to  be  young.  But  elsewhere,  even  in  130 
and  150,  there  is  no  indication  of  her  being  other  than  young;  and  this  indeed 
seems  implied  in  such  expressions  as  "pretty  ruth,"  "pretty  looks,"  "lips  that 
Love's  own  hand  did  make."  And  Sh.'s  pretending  to  be  youthful  also  implies 
that  the  lady  was  young.  It  is  possible  that  Jaggard  printed  138  from  an  in- 
accurate copy.  .  .  .  Perhaps,  however,  it  is  more  likely  that  some  one  altered 
the  last  six  lines  to  conceal  Mrs.  Fitton,  who,  in  1599,  was  in  high  favour  at 
Court,  (p.  8 in.)  Wyndham:  [The  variations  in  the  P.P.  version]  with  the 
unlikely  repetition  of  "tongue"  as  a  rhyme  in  the  third  quatrain,  after  it  had 
served  in  the  second,  confirm  the  view  that  Sh.'s  numbers  in  the  P.P.  were 
pirated,  perhaps  from  recollection  only.  Beeching:  It  is  interesting  to  have  so 
clear  an  example  of  Sh.'s  rewriting.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  amended  copy  gets 
rid  of  the  difficult  conclusion  to  line  8,  and  also  of  the  new  idea  in  line  9,  which 
interferes  with  the  statement  of  the  two  faults  in  the  octave:  viz.,  the  woman's 
inconstancy  and  the  man's  pretence  of  youth  and  innocence.  Lee:  Jaggard 
[in  the  P.P.]  seems  to  have  presented  an  earlier  recension  of  the  text  than 
figured  in  the  edition  of  1609.  The  poet's  second  thoughts  do  not  seem  to  have 
been  always  better  than. his  first.  .  .  .  Lines  6-9  [in  the  P.P.  text],  if  less  pol- 
ished, are  somewhat  more  pointed  than  the  later  version.  (Intro,  to  P.P., 
facsimile  ed.,  1905,  pp.  22-23.) 

1.  truth.  See  note  on  54,  2. 

6.  Hudson:  This  was  printed  in  1599,  when  [Sh.]  was  but  35.  Surely,  in  this 
case,  his  reason  for  using  such  language  must  have  been  that  it  suited  his  pur- 
pose as  a  poet,  not  that  it  was  true  of  his  age  as  a  man.  (Intro.,  ed.  1881,  p.  84.) 
Isaac  explains  the  passage  as  meaning,  "The  best  part  of  my  life,  the  harmless 


334  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE    [cxxxvm 

time  of  youth,  is  behind  me."  (Archiv,  61 :  412.)  [On  this  subject,  cf.  notes  on 
22,  1  and  62,  9-10.] 

7.  Simply.  Schmidt:  Absolutely. 

9.  unjust.  Schmidt:  Faithless.  [Cf.  P.P.,  331:  "Unless  thy  lady  prove  un- 
just."] 

11.  habit.  Schmidt:  Appearance,  deportment. 

12.  t'have.  Bullen:  [We  should  keep  this  reading,]  "years"  having,  as  in 
many  passages,  the  value  of  a  dissyllable,    told.  Cf.  note  on  30,  10. 

Isaac:  [This  and  S.  144  show  that  Sh.  had  made  lyrical  preliminary  studies 
for  the  character  of  Cleopatra  ten  years  before  the  play  of  A.  &  C.].  ...  As  to 
the  moral  side  of  this  sonnet,  it  is  to  be  admitted  that  malevolence  can  attach 
to  it  a  flippant  interpretation,  highly  unfavorable  for  Sh.'s  character.  One  has 
only  to  overlook  the  deep  bitterness  of  the  last  lines,  and  interpret  them  as  the 
mocking  wisdom  of  a  blase  and  decayed  man  of  the  world.  The  judgment  of 
the  true  admirer,  who  humbly  seeks  to  approach  the  real  thought  and  feeling 
of  this  great  man  through  the  veil  of  the  words,  will  here  as  elsewhere  be  guided 
by  the  modesty  and  respect  to  which  the  unapproached  moral  greatness  of  the 
poet  raises  an  imperative  claim.  It  will  find  in  this  sonnet  a  portrayal  of  feel- 
ings such  as  are  natural  to  a  relation  from  which  all  mutual  confidence  has 
vanished;  it  will  be  forced  to  marvel  at  the  inexorable  self-judgment  with  which 
the  poet  sets  to  work.   (Archiv,  61:  400,  412-13.) 

[With  reference  to  the  1599  version  of  line  9,  Von  Mauntz  observes  that  the 
identification  of  the  woman  referred  to  with  Mary  Fitton  is  improbable,  since 
a  lady  of  twenty  years  would  scarcely  need  to  exert  herself  to  seem  young  to  a 
man  of  thirty-five.] 


cxxxix]      THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  335 


139 
O  call  not  me  to  iustifie  the  wrong, 
That  thy  vnkindnesse  layes  vpon  my  heart, 
Wound  me  not  with  thine  eye  but  with  thy  toung, 
Vse  power  with  power,  and  slay  me  not  by  Art, 
Tell  me  thou  lou'st  else-where;  but  in  my  sight,  5 

Deare  heart  forbeare  to  glance  thine  eye  aside, 
What  needst  thou  wound  with  cunning  when  thy  might 
Is  more  then  my  ore-prest  defence  can  bide? 
Let  me  excuse  thee,  ah  my  loue  well  knowes,  9 

Her  prettie  lookes  haue  beene  mine  enemies, 
And  therefore  from  my  face  she  turnes  my  foes, 
That  they  else-where  might  dart  their  iniuries : 
Yet  do  not  so,  but  since  I  am  neere  slaine, 
Kill  me  out-right  with  lookes,  and  rid  my  paine. 


3.  eye]  eyes  Wa. 
10.  mine]  my  1640,  G,  S,  E. 


Isaac:  [With  this  sonnet  and  140  cf.  A.  Y.  L.,  Ill,  v,  1-7: 

Sweet  Phebe,  do  not  scorn  me;  do  not,  Phebe. 

Say  that  you  love  me  not,  but  say  not  so 

In  bitterness.  The  common  executioner, 

Whose  heart  the  accustom'd  sight  of  death  makes  hard, 

Falls  not  the  axe  upon  the  humbled  neck 

But  first  begs  pardon.  Will  you  sterner  be  ' 

Than  he  that  dies  and  lives  by  bloody  drops?] 

Sarrazin:  Cf.   V.  &  A.,  499-502: 

O,  thou  didst  kill  me;  kill  me  once  again. 
Thy  eyes's  shrewd  tutor,  that  hard  heart  of  thine, 
Hath  taught  them  scornful  tricks  and  such  disdain 
That  they  have  murder'd  this  poor  heart  of  mine. 

(Sh.'s  Lehrjahre,  p.  155.) 

3.  Malone:  Cf.  R.  6f  J.,  II,  iv,  14:  "Stabb'd  with  a  white  wench's  black 
eye."  McClumpha:  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  II,  ii,  71:  "There  lies  more  peril  in  thine  eye 
than  twenty  of  their  swords."   (Jahrb.,  40:  190.) 

4.  Art.  Schmidt:  Perhaps  magic  may  be  meant.  [Cf.  Prospero,  Temp.,  I,  ii, 
25:  "Lie  there,  my  art";  etc.] 


336  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE     [cxxxix 

5-6.  Von  Mauntz:  Cf.  C.  of  E.,  Ill,  ii,  8-13: 

Muffle  your  false  love  with  some  show  of  blindness; 

Let  not  my  sister  read  it  in  your  eye; 

Be  not  thy  tongue  thy  own  shame's  orator; 

Look  sweet,  speak  fair,  become  disloyalty; 

Apparel  vice  like  virtue's  harbinger; 

Bear  a  fair  presence,  though  your  heart  be  tainted; 

and  Ovid,  A  mores,  I,  iv,  69-70: 

Sed  quaecumque  tamen  noctem  fortuna  sequetur, 
Cras  mihi  constanti  voce  dedisse  nega. 

[Cf.  also  note  on  140,  5-6.] 

7.  What.  Schmidt  [though  not  citing  this  passage,  notes  that  "what"  is 
used  with  the  meaning  "why"  especially  before  the  verb  "to  need."  Cf. 
Abbott,  §  253.] 

8.  bide.  Cf.  58,  7. 

14.  Sarrazin:  Cf.  R.3,  I,  ii,  150-53: 

Glou.  Thine  eyes,  sweet  lady,  have  infected  mine. 
Anne.  Would  they  were  basilisks,  to  strike  thee  dead! 
Glou.  I  would  they  were,  that  I  might  die  at  once; 
For  now  they  kill  me  with  a  living  death. 

(Jahrb.,  31:  224.) 
Dowden:  Cf.  Sidney,  A.  &  S.,  48: 

Dear  killer,  spare  not  thy  sweet,  cruel  shot; 
A  kind  of  grace  it  is  to  slay  with  speed. 

Verity:  Cf.  Constable,  Diana,  4th  decade,  S.  5: 

Dear,  if  all  other  favour  you  shall  grudge, 
Do  speedy  execution  with  your  eye. 

[I  have  elsewhere  pointed  out  that  this  and  the  following  sonnet  seem  to  be 
distinct  from  those  which  Lee  calls  "vituperative,"  and  to  be  addressed  to  a 
mistress  who  is  conventionally  unkind  and  proud:]  Many  readers  connect  this 
pair  with  the  preceding  and  the  following,  and  Dowden  comments  to  the  effect 
that  the  poet  "goes  on  to  speak  of  his  lady's  untruthfulness."  There  is  a  possi- 
bility of  reading  unfaithfulness  into  the  portrait;  but  surely  the  whole  tone  of 
the  two  sonnets  is  distinct  from  that  of  their  neighbors.  When  we  find  "the 
wrong"  done  by  the  lady's  "unkindness"  developed  by  means  of  the  conven- 
tional conceit  —  "Wound  me  not  with  thine  eye,"  etc.,  we  are  naturally  dis- 
posed to  understand  by  that  unkindness  the  usual  hauteur  of  the  besonneted 
lady  of  the  period.  In  140,  too,  is  "disdain"  the  word  for  the  lying  mistress  of 
138  or  the  adulteress  of  152?  (Kittredge  Papers,  p.  282n.) 


cxl]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  337 

140 

Be  wise  as  thou  art  cruell,  do  not  presse 
My  toung-tide  patience  with  too  much  disdaine: 
Least  sorrow  lend  me  words  and  words  expresse, 
The  manner  of  my  pittie  wanting  paine. 
If  I  might  teach  thee  witte  better  it  weare,  5 

Though  not  to  loue,  yet  loue  to  tell  me  so, 
As  testie  sick-men  when  their  deaths  be  neere, 
No  newes  but  health  from  their  Phisitions  know. 
For  if  I  should  dispaire  I  should  grow  madde,  9 

And  in  my  madnesse  might  speake  ill  of  thee, 
Now  this  ill  wresting  world  is  growne  so  bad, 
Madde  slanderers  by  madde  eares  beleeued  be. 
That  I  may  not  be  so,  nor  thou  be  lyde, 
Beare  thine  eyes  straight,  though  thy  proud  heart  goe 
wide. 

4.  pittie  wanting]  Hyphened  by  G,  etc. 

5.  weare]  were  1640,  etc. 

6.  yet  loue]  yet  (love)  C;  yet,  love,  M,  etc. 
11.  ill  wresting]  Hyphened  by  L,  etc. 

13.  be  lyde]  be-lide  1640;  bely'd  [or  belied]  G,  etc.;  beWd  N. 

Krauss:  [Cf.  Sidney,  A.  &  S.,  5th  Song,  stanzas  3-5:] 

But  now  that  hope  is  lost,  unkindness  kills  delight; 
Yet  thought  and  speech  do  live,  thought  metamorphos'd  quite: 
For  Rage  now  rules  the  reins  which  guided  were  by  Pleasure. 
I  think  now  of  thy  faults,  who  late  thought  of  thy  praise. 
That  speech  falls  now  to  blame  which  did  thy  honour  raise. 
The  same  key  open  can,  which  can  lock  up  a  treasure,   [etc.] 

5-6.  Von  Mauntz:  Cf.  Ovid,  Amores,  III,  xiv,  1-4: 

Non  ego  ne  pecces,  cum  sis  formosa,  recuso, 

Sed  ne  sit  misero  scire  necesse  mihi; 
Nee  te  nostra  jubet  fieri  censura  pudicam, 
Sed  tamen  ut  tentes  dissimulare  rogat. 
[Marlowe's  translation: 

Seeing  thou  art  fair,  I  bar  not  thy  false  playing, 
But  let  not  me,  poor  soul,  know  of  thy  straying. 


338  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cxli 

Nor  do  I  give  thee  counsel  to  live  chaste, 

But  that  thou  wouldst  dissemble,  when  't  is  past.] 

ii.  ill  wresting.  Schmidt:  Misinterpreting  to  disadvantage. 
12.  Wyndham:  The  line  may  hold  a  reference  to  the  poet's  own  case;  cf. 
112,   1-2;  121,  1-2. 
14.  Malone:  [Cf.93,  4.]  Dowden:  [Cf.  139,6.] 

Cf.  S.  93,  and  note. 

141 

In  faith  I  doe  not  loue  thee  with  mine  eyes, 
For  they  in  thee  a  thousand  errors  note, 
But  'tis  my  heart  that  loues  what  they  dispise, 
Who  in  dispight  of  view  is  pleasd  to  dote. 
Nor  are  mine  eares  with  thy  toungs  tune  delighted,         5 
Nor  tender  feeling  to  base  touches  prone, 
Nor  taste,  nor  smell,  desire  to  be  inuited 
To  any  sensuall  feast  with  thee  alone : 
But  my  fiue  wits,  nor  my  hue  sences  can  9 

Diswade  one  foolish  heart  from  seruing  thee, 
Who  leaues  vnswai'd  the  likenesse  of  a  man, 
Thy  proud  hearts  slaue  and  vassall  wretch  to  be : 
Onely  my  plague  thus  farre  I  count  my  gaine, 
That  she  that  makes  me  sinne,  awards  me  paine. 

5.  tune]  turn  E. 

6.  feeting]  feeling,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Wh,  Hal,  Cam, 
Do,  R,  Ty,  Ox,  Wy,  Her,  N.        touches]  touch  is  But. 

8.  thee]  the  1640. 

11.  leaues]  leave  Co,  Hu1;  lives  Bo  [error]. 

12.  vassall  wretch]  Hyphened  by  Kly. 

14.  awards  me]  rewards  weG1,  S1;  rewards  my  G2,  S2,  E. 

[This  sonnet  is  apparently  closely  connected  with  137  and  148-150.  .Isaac 
(Archiv,  60:  62)  calls  it  a  "confirmation  and  elaboration"  of  150.  —  Ed.] 
Dowden:  Cf.  Drayton,  Idea,  S.  29: 

When  conquering  Love  did  first  my  heart  assail, 
Unto  mine  aid  I  summon'd  every  Sense: 
Doubting,  if  that  proud  tyrant  should  prevail, 
My  heart  should  suffer  for  mine  eyes'  offence. 


cxli]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  339 

But  he  with  beauty  first  corrupted  Sight, 
My  Hearing  brib'd  with  her  tongue's  harmony, 
My  Taste  by  her  sweet  lips  drawn  with  delight, 
My  Smelling  won  with  her  breath's  spicery; 
But  when  my  Touching  came  to  play  his  part 
(The  King  of  Senses,  greater  than  the  rest), 
He  yields  Love  up  the  keys  unto  my  heart, 
And  tells  the  others  how  they  should  be  blest. 
And  thus  by  those  of  whom  I  hop'd  for  aid 
To  cruel  Love  my  soul  was  first  betrayed. 

Sarrazin:  Cf.  V.  &  A.,  437-42: 

Though  neither  eyes  nor  ears  to  hear  nor  see, 
Yet  should  I  be  in  love  by  touching  thee. 
Say,  that  the  sense  of  feeling  were  bereft  me, 
And  that  I  could  not  see,  nor  hear,  nor  touch, 
And  nothing  but  the  very  smell  were  left  me, 
Yet  would  my  love  to  thee  be  still  as  much. 

(Sh.'s  Lehrjahre,  p.  155.) 

Acheson:  [This  sonnet  again  alludes  to  Chapman's  Banquet  of  Sense.  (Sh.  & 
the  R.P.,  p.  127.)] 

1-4.  F.  V.  Hugo:  Cf.  Moliere,  Le  Misanthrope,  I,  i: 

Non.  L'amour  que  je  sens  pour  cette  jeune  veuve 
Ne  ferme  point  mes  yeux  aux  defauts  qu'on  lui  treuve; 
Et  je  suis,  quelque  ardeur  qu'elle  m'ait  pu  donner, 
Le  premier  a  les  voir,  comme  a  les  condamner.   [etc.] ' 

Von  Mauntz:  Cf.  Ovid,  Amores,  III,  xi,  33-34: 

Luctantur  pectusque  leve  in  contraria  tendunt 
Hac  amor,  hac  odiam;  sed,  puto,  vincit  amor. 

[Marlowe's  translation: 

Now  love  and  hate  my  light  breast  each  way  move; 
But  victory,  I  think,  will  hap  to  love.] 

5.  Tyler:  Cf.  130,  9-10. 

6.  feeling.  Beeching:  I  follow  Q  ...  in  reading  no  comma.  The  poet  says 
that  his  delicate  feeling  is  not  "prone  to  base  touches,"  not  that  it  is. 

8.  feast.  Isaac:  Cf.  L.C.,  181:  "Feasts  of  love  I  have  been  call'd  unto." 

9.  five  wits.  M alone:  "The  wits,"  Dr.  Johnsoh  observes,  "seem  to  have 
been  reckoned  five,  by  analogy  to  the  five  senses,  or  the  five  inlets  of  ideas. 
'Wit'  in  our  author's  time  was  the  general  term  for  the  intellectual  power." 
From  Stephen  Hawes's  poem  called  Graunde  Amour  and  La  Bell  Pucel,  1554, 
ch.  24,  it  appears  that  the  five  wits  were  "common  wit,  imagination,  fantasy, 
estimation,  and  memory."  nor.  [For  the  construction,  without  "neither,"  cf. 
"He,  nor,"  86,  9,  and  see  Abbott,  §  396.] 


340  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cxli 

ii.  Collier:  The  relative  "who"  agrees  with  the  five  wits  and  the  five 
senses,  so  that  "leaves"  ought  to  be  "leave."  Isaac:  ["Unsway'd"  refers  to 
"heart";]  for  clearly  the  man  must  here  sway  the  heart  (he  is  only  the  empty 
likeness  of  a  man,  if  it  is  "unsway'd  "),  not  the  heart  the  man.  (Archiv,  60:  62.) 
Dowden  :  My  heart  ceases  to  govern  me,  and  so  leaves  me  no  better  than  the 
likeness  of  a  man  —  a  man  without  a  heart  —  in  order  that  it  may  become  slave 
to  thy  proud  heart.  Tyler:  I  cannot  agree  with  Dowden's  explanation.  ...  I 
should  take  the  meaning  to  be,  in  accordance  with  what  goes  before:  the  poet  is 
entirely  governed  by  his  heart,  which  still  does  not  sway  his  five  senses,  etc., 
these  constituting  together  "the  likeness  of  a  man,"  that  is,  a  man  minus  the 
heart.  Wyndham:  I  agree  with  Tyler's  [interpretation.]  "The  likeness  of  a 
man"  =  the  five  wits  and  five  senses.  Butler:  Unswayed  by  anything  that 
either  wits  or  senses  can  urge,  my  heart  as  it  were  unmans  itself,  and  is  con- 
tented to  be  your  drudge.  Beeching:  ["Who"  is  the  heart.]  The  heart  by 
ceasing  to  rule  leaves  the  man  a  mere  likeness.  Lee:  Which,  foregoing  its  con- 
trol, makes  of  a  man  the  mere  husk  or  simulacrum  of  a  human  being.  [I  do  not 
see  that  it  follows,  because  "who"  refers  to  the  heart,  that  "unswayed"  must 
mean  "unswayed  by  the  heart."  The  heart,  as  Tyler  remarks,  is  having  its 
way;  but  I  cannot  follow  his  corollary,  being  disposed  rather  to  agree  with 
Butler's  rendering,  "unswayed  by  wits  or  senses."  My  friend  Professor  W.  D. 
Briggs  brings  to  my  attention  a  parallel  for  the  notion  that  he  whose  heart  has 
left  him  is  the  mere  "likeness  of  a  man,"  in  an  Elegy  of  Jonson's  {Underwoods, 
59;  in  Gifford's  edition,  60): 

How  shall  I  do,  sweet  mistress,  for  my  heart?  .  .  . 
And  so  I  spare  it:  come  what  can  become 
Of  me,  I  '11  softly  tread  unto  my  tomb; 
Or,  like  a  ghost,  walk  silent  amongst  men, 
Till  I  may  see  both  it  and  you  again. 

—  Ed.] 

14.  paine.  Schmidt:  Heavy  suffering.  Walker:  In  its  old  etymological 
sense  of  punishment.  [So  Dowden,  Wyndham,  Beeching,  and  Porter. 
Tyler  and  Rolfe  dissent,  and  in  a  division  I  should  join  them,  in  view  of 
132,  4;  139,  14;  and  140,  4.  —  Ed.] 

Sharp  :  [This  sonnet  was  certainly  not  sent  to  the  lady ;  and]  it  may  be  noted 
that  the  personal  address  characterizing  the  opening  lines  is  forgotten  in  the 
couplet,  where  "she"  usurps  "thou."   (Intro.,  p.  22.) 


cxlii]         THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  341 

142 

Loue  is  my  sinne,  and  thy  deare  vertue  hate, 

Hate  of  my  sinne,  grounded  on  sinfull  louing, 

O  but  with  mine,  compare  thou  thine  owne  state, 

And  thou  shalt  finde  it  merrits  not  reproouing, 

Or  if  it  do,  not  from  those  lips  of  thine,  5 

That  haue  prophan'd  their  scarlet  ornaments, 

And  seald  false  bonds  of  loue  as  oft  as  mine, 

Robd  others  beds  reuenues  of  their  rents. 

Be  it  lawfull  I  loue  thee  as  thou  lou'st  those,  9 

Whome  thine  eyes  wooe  as  mine  importune  thee, 

Roote  pittie  in  thy  heart  that  when  it  growes, 

Thy  pitty  may  deserue  to  pittied  bee. 

If  thou  doost  seeke  to  haue  what  thou  doost  hide, 
By  selfe  example  mai'st  thou  be  denide. 

1.  thy]  my  1640,  G,  S,  E. 

2.  my  sinne]  sin  G,  S,  E.      on]  upon  G2;  on  a  S,  E. 

3.  state]  sate  G1. 

8.  beds]  beds,  S1;  beds'  Kt,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Cam,  Do,  etc.;  bed's 
Co8,      beds  reuenues]  bed-revenues  C. 

9.  Beit]  BeHUxx,  Dy2. 
10.  wooe]  woe  1640. 

12.  to  pittied]  pity'd  to  C. 

13.  hide]  chide  Sta  conj.,  But. 

14.  selfe  example]  Hyphened  by  G2,  S2,  etc. 

Isaac:  [This  sonnet]  is  dependent  in  content  on  S.  152,  but  distinguished 
from  it  through  the  less  passionate  tone.  (Archiv,  61:  177.)  Wyndham:  This 
sonnet  is  the  last  of  four  written  in  an  unbroken  chain,  —  the  sense  and  even 
the  phrasing  of  the  concluding  lines  in  each  being  taken  up  in  the  opening  lines 
of  the  next.  [Perhaps;  but  no  more  obviously  than  in  many  another  doubtful 
case  of  sequence.  —  Ed.] 

1.  Massey:  Cf.  Sidney,  A.  &  S.,  52:  "A  strife  is  grown  between  Virtue  and 
Love."  (p.  249.)  deare.  Schmidt:  Inmost.  [Cf.  131,  3.]  Tyler:  Cherished. 
Rolfe:  Thy  cherished  virtue  —  the  only  virtue  she  has. 

2.  Wyndham:  You  hate  my  love,  not  because  it  is  sinful,  but  because  you 
love,  sinfully,  elsewhere.  Butler:  Hatred  of  my  sin  which  is  based  upon  my 


342  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cxlii 

love  of  you.  Rolfe:  She  hates  him  for  his  love,  and  his  love  is  sin;  and  so  far 
she  is  right. 

6.  scarlet  ornaments.   Malone:  [Cf.  Edward  III  (1596),  II,  i,  10.  The  fol- 
lowing is  the  context,  from  line  6:] 

Loe,  when  shee  blusht,  even  then  did  he  looke  pale, 

As  if  her  cheekes  by  some  inchaunted  power 

Attracted  had  the  cherie  blood  from  his: 

Anone,  with  reverent  feare  when  she  grew  pale, 

His  cheekes  put  on  their  scarlet  ornaments; 

But  no  more  like  her  oryentall  red, 

Than  Bricke  to  Corrall  or  live  things  to  dead. 

Dowden:  This  line  occurs  in  the  part  of  the  play  attributed  by  several  critics 
to  Sh.  [See  notes  on  94,  14.  —  Ed.]  A.  Platt  [(M.  L.  Rev.,  6:  511)  discusses 
the  repetition  of  the  line,  as  that  of  94,  14,  and  finds  it  to  be  absurd  in  the  play 
but  in  point  in  the  sonnet,  because  here  having  reference  to  the  scarlet  wax  with 
which  the  bond  is  sealed.  Hence  the  dramatist  was  the  borrower.  Mackail, 
in  his  lecture  published  in  the  same  year  (191 1),  makes  the  same  suggestion: 
the  lady's  wax-red  lips  are  compared  to  the  seal  on  a  deed.  But  his  inference  is 
different:]  The  strong  presumption  is  that  the  phrase  in  the  play,  whether  Sh-.'s 
own  or  another's,  had  clung  in  his  mind  and  was  here  reproduced  by  him  in  a 
new  application.  (Led.  on  Poetry,  p.  187.)  Beeching:  The  parallel  would 
suggest  that  this  is  an  early  sonnet,  and  the  writing  confirms  the  suggestion. 

7.  seald.  Malone  [cites  four  other  instances  of  Sh.'s  figurative  use  of  a  seal 
for  a  kiss;  e.g.,  M.  for  M.,  IV,  i,  5-6: 

But  my  kisses  bring  again, 
Seals  of  love,  but  seal'd  in  vain. 

Isaac  (Archiv,  61:  180)  raises  the  list  to  more  than  a  dozen.] 
7-8.  Fleay:  I  would  point: 

And  sealed  false  bonds  of  love,  as  oft  as  mine 
Robbed  others'  beds'  revenues  of  their  rents. 

(Biog.  Chron.,  2:  224.) 

Godwin:  The  text,  besides  being  ungrammatical,  is  so  gross  that  it  must  be 
corrupt.  .  .  .  What  the  poet  meant  to  say,  I  think,  was,  that  she  had  no  right  to 
reproach  him  on  the  subject  of  kissing,  because  her  lips  had  doubtless  offended, 
as  often  as  his  lips  had  robbed  the  best  revenues  of  the  lips  of  their  proper  dues, 
(p.  144.) 

8.  Isaac  [discusses  the  construction  of  this  line,  inferring  from  their  reading 
of  "beds,"  not  "beds',"  that  Malone,  Collier,  and  Hazlitt  took  "revenues  of 
their  rents"  as  a  double  accusative  with  "others'  beds."  Since  this  construc- 
tion does  not  appear  elsewhere  in  Sh.,  most  editors  follow  Knight  in  reading 
"beds'."  But  if  we  read  "of  their  rents"  as  a  genitive  object,  "Thou  hast 
robbed  the  income  of  other  beds  of  their  rents,"  what  is  the  meaning?  Rents 
and  income  are  the  same  thing.  To  avoid  this  difficulty,  one  may  take  "reve- 


cxlii]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  343 

nues  of  their  rents"  as  a  single  idea,  as  Lachmann  did  in  translating  it  Zinser- 
trag.  But  "their"  remains  troublesome,  as  we  should  expect  "revenues  of 
rents."  (Archiv,  61:  181.)  Most  readers  doubtless  find  no  difficulty  in  the 
prevalent  text,  understanding  "revenues"  as  rightful  receipts,  and  "rents"  as 
the  portion  of  these  revenues  which  had  been  robbed.  —  Ed.]  Lee:  Cf.  Daniel, 
Complaint  of  Rosamund,  756:  "The  revenue  of  a  wanton  bed." 
9-10.  Fleay:  Cf.  Drayton,  Idea,  43: 

Why  should  your  fair  eyes,  with  such  sovereign  grace, 
Disperse  their  rays  on  every  vulgar  spirit, 
Whilst  I  in  darkness,  in  the  self-same  place, 
Get  not  one  glance  to  recompense  my  merit? 

(Biog.  Chron.,  2:  224.) 

[These  two  lines  might  be  regarded  as  the  germ  of  the  following  sonnet.  —  Ed.] 

10.  Dowden:  [This]  carries  on  the  complaint  of  139,  6  and  140,  14.  im- 
portune. [Regularly  accented  thus,  on  the  penult,  in  Sh.  —  Ed.] 

11.  Isaac:  [Cf.  Wyatt,  "The  Lover  Sendeth  his  Complaints,"  etc.: 

So  wet  her  barren  heart, 
That  pity  there  may  grow.] 

11-12.  Wyndham:  [The  first  "pity"  =  compassion;  the  second  "ground  or 
subject  for  compassion."] 

13.  hide.  Schmidt:  Not  let  appear,  suppress. 

14.  By  selfe  example.  Dowden:  On  the  precedent  of  your  own  example. 

[Those  concerned  with  the  identification  of  the  dark  mistress  find  this  sonnet 
a  matter  of  contention,  as  to  whether  it  indicates  that  she  was  an  adulteress 
in  the  strict  sense  of  being  a  married  woman.  Tyler  explains  line  8  as  implying 
"that  the  lady  had  received  the  attentions  of  other  married  men."  But  those 
who  oppose  his  Pembroke-Fitton  argument  say,  with  Miss  Porter,  that  this 
line  and  152,  3  "constitute  the  practically  insuperable  obstacle  to  the  theory 
that  Maty  Fytton  was  the  mistress  meant,  for  she  was  not  married  until  1607."] 

Taine  [refers  to  this  sonnet  as  representing  "the  intoxications,  the  excesses, 
the  delirium  into  which  the  most  refined  artists  fall"  when  they  yield  to  the 
seductions  of  the  flesh.   (Hist,  Eng.  Lit.,  van  Laun  trans.  2:  57.)] 


344  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE        [cxliii 

143 
Loe  as  a  carefull  huswife  runnes  to  catch, 
One  of  her  fethered  creatures  broake  away, 
Sets  downe  her  babe  and  makes  all  swift  dispatch 
In  pursuit  of  the  thing  she  would  haue  stay: 
Whilst  her  neglected  child  holds  her  in  chace,  5 

Cries  to  catch  her  whose  busie  care  is  bent, 
To  follow  that  which  flies  before  her  face : 
Not  prizing  her  poore  infants  discontent; 
So  runst  thou  after  that  which  flies  from  thee,  9 

Whilst  I  thy  babe  chace  thee  a  farre  behind, 
But  if  thou  catch  thy  hope  turne  back  to  me: 
And  play  the  mothers  part  kisse  me,  be  kind. 
So  will  I  pray  that  thou  maist  haue  thy  Will, 
If  thou  turne  back  and  my  loude  crying  still. 
1.  huswife]  houswife  G2;  housewife  S2,  E,  A,  etc.  (except  Be);  house-wife  M. 

Wyndham:  This  sonnet,  also,  belongs  to  the  unbroken  chain  of  the  preceding 
four.   [The  couplet  restates  the  sense  of  142,  11-14.] 

Acheson:  [This]  sonnet  seems  to  be  a  reflection  of  some  verses  in  the  poem 
of  "The  Two  Italian  Gentlemen"  [upon  which  the  story  of  T.  G.  V.  is  usually 
supposed  to  be  founded].  .  .  .  Cf.: 

Lo!  here  the  common  fault  of  love, 

To  follow  her  that  flies, 
And  fly  from  her  that  makes  her  wail 
With  loud  lamenting  cries. 

(Sh.  &f  the  R.P.,  pp.  46,  48.) 

[A  closer  relationship  with  the  situation  represented  in  Sonnets  133-134  is 
suggested  than  with  those  which  intervene.  —  Ed.] 

4.  pursuit.  Walker  [collects  a  number  of  parallels  for  the  accent  on  the 
penult.  Cf.  the  verb  in  M.V.,  IV,  i,  298]. 
.9.  Tyler:  Cf.  41,  7. 
13.  Will.  Dowden:  Possibly,  as  Steevens  takes  it,  Will  Shakspere;  but  it 
seems  as  likely,  or  perhaps  more  likely,  to  be  Sh.'s  friend  "Will"  (?W.  H.).  .  .  . 
Sh.  will  pray  for  her  success  in  the  chase  of  the  fugitive  (Will?),  on  condition 
that,  if  successful,  she  will  turn  back  to  him,  Sh.  [So  Rolfe.]  Tyler:  Meaning 
probably  her  purpose,  and  also  William  Herbert.    [This  outpost  of  the  Pern- 


cxliii]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  345 

brokists  may  be  said  to  have  been  captured,  and  its  guns  turned  against  them, 
by  Sarrazin  (Sh.'s  Lehrjahre,  p.  158),  who  reads  "as  in  a  palimpsest"  the 
original  text  of  these  lines,  as  follows: 

So  will  I  pray  that  thou  mayst  have  thy  Hen, 
If  thou  turn  back,  and  my  loud  crying  pen. 

This  was  later  changed  by  the  poet  to  a  less  objectionable  form.  The  reader 
must  admit  that  if  the  couplet  was  not  thus  written  by  Sh.,  with  reference  to 
Henry  Wriothesley,  it  ought  to  have  been!  —  Ed.]  Lee:  [In  italics]  by  what  is 
almost  certainly  a  typographical  accident.  .  .  .  The  poet  .  .  .  lightly  makes 
play  with  the  current  catch-phrase  ("a  woman  will  have  her  will"),  and  amia- 
bly wishes  his  mistress  success  in  her  chase,  on  condition  that,  having  recap- 
tured the  truant  bird,  she  turn  back  and  treat  him,  her  babe,  with  kindness.  .  .  . 
No  pun  on  a  man's  name  of  "Will"  can  be  fairly  wrested  from  the  context. 
(Life,  p.  426.)  Beeching:  It  is  certain  from  the  sonnet  which  follows  that  a 
play  is  intended  upon  the  name  of  the  poet's  friend. 

Steevens:  The  image  with  which  this  sonnet  begins  is  at  once  pleasing  and 
natural;  but  the  conclusion  of  it  is  lame  and  impotent  indeed.  We  attend  to  the 
cries  of  the  infant,  but  laugh  at  the  loud  blubberings  of  the  great  boy  Will. 
Isaac:  As  to  the  amusing  character  of  this  picture,  I  am  of  the  opinion  that 
one  could  find  a  large  number  of  similar  images  in  the  plays,  which,  if  they  are 
depicted  with  painful  precision  by  the  imagination  of  the  reader,  have  some- 
thing of  the  comic  about  them.  It  is  just  these  numerous  similes  of  gripping 
reality  which  produce,  often  not  a  congenial  or  beautiful,  but  always  a  powerful 
effect.  .  .  .  The  image  overflowed  from  his  full  heart,  and  even  then  he  would 
certainly  not  have  expressed  it,  if  he  could  have  suspected  that  after  some  centu- 
ries certain  critics  would  discover  the  comic  in  it,  —  something  which  resides, 
after  all,  only  in  the  esthetic  point  of  view.  (Archiv,  59:  256,  260.)  [Isaac  also 
discusses  interestingly  the  implications  of  the  sonnet  respecting  the  character 
of  Sh.]  Beeching:  The  sonnet  is  no  doubt  intended  to  be  only  half  serious, 
like  the  one  that  follows.  Lee:  The  moral  of  the  sonnet  is  somewhat  equivocal. 
.  .  .  The  poet,  so  far  from  regarding  the  escaping  thing  as  a  serious  rival,  wishes 
the  woman  success  in  the  chase  on  condition  that  she  will  then  come  back  and 
kiss  his  tears  away.  There  is  some  suggestion  of  a  "menage  &  trois."  [See  note 
on  S.  40.] 

Horace  Davis:  I  am  reminded  by  this  sonnet  of  some  of  the  features  of  the 
situation  in  A.  Y.  L.,  Ill,  v.    There  is  Rosalind  the  charming  youth,  Phebe 
the  dark  beauty,  and  Silvius  the  rejected  lover,  whose  devotion  under  adverse 
circumstances  finds  utterance  in  these  lines  (99-104): 
So  holy  and  so  perfect  is  my  love, 
And  I  in  such  a  poverty  of  grace, 
That  I  shall  think  it  a  most  plenteous  crop 
To  glean  the  broken  ears  after  the  man 
That  the  main  harvest  reaps.  Loose  now  and  then 
A  scatter'd  smile,  and  that  I  '11  live  upon. 


346  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE         [cxliv 

144 

Two  loues  I  haue  of  comfort  and  dispaire, 
Which  like  two  spirits  do  sugiest  me  still, 
The  better  angell  is  a  man  right  faire: 
The  worser  spirit  a  woman  collour'd  il. 
To  win  me  soone  to  hell  my  f email  euill,  5 

Tempteth  my  better  angel  from  my  sight, 
And  would  corrupt  my  saint  to  be  a  diuel : 
Wooing  his  purity  with  her  fowle  pride. 
And  whether  that  my  angel  be  turn'd  finde,  9 

Suspect  I  may,  yet  not  directly  tell, 
But  being  both  from  me  both  to  each  friend, 
I  gesse  one  angel  in  an  others  hel. 
Yet  this  shal  I  nere  know  but  Hue  in  doubt, 
Till  my  bad  angel  fire  my  good  one  out. 

2.  sugiest]  suggest  1640,  etc. 

6.  sight]  side  1640,  etc. 

9.  finde]  feend  1640;  fiend  G,  etc. 

[See  below  for  the  text  of  1599,  1640,  etc.] 

This  sonnet,  like  138,  appeared  in  The  Passionate  Pilgrim,  1599,  —  the  sec- 
ond number  in  the  collection.  The  following  is  the  P.P.  text: 
Two  Loves  I  have,  of  Comfort,  and  Despaire, 
That  like  two  Spirits,  do  suggest  me  still: 
My  better  Angell  is  a  Man  (right  faire) 
My  worser  spirite  a  Woman  (colour'd  ill.) 
To  winne  me  soone  to  hell,  my  Female  evill 
Tempteth  my  better  Angell  from  my  side, 
And  would  corrupt  my  Saint  to  be  a  Divell, 
Wooing  his  purity  with  her  faire  pride. 
And  whether  that  my  Angell  be  turnde  feend, 
Suspect  I  may  (yet  not  directly  tell: 
For  being  both  to  me:  both,  to  each  friend, 
I  ghesse  one  Angell  in  anothers  hell: 

The  truth  I  shall  not  know,  but  live  in  doubt, 
Till  my  bad  Angell  fire  my  good  one  out. 
Tyler:  [The  changes  in  lines  3,  8,  13  from  the  P.P.  version]  may  possibly 
have  proceeded  from  revision.   Lee:  Jaggard's  second  sonnet  [in  the  P.P.] 


cxliv]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  347 

shows  fewer  discrepancies  with  that  of  1609  [than  his  version  of  138],  and  his 
version  is  on  the  whole  the  better  of  the  two.  {Intro,  to  P.P.,  facsimile  ed., 
1905,  pp.  23-24.)  Beeching:  ["Fair,"  line  8,  the  only  important  variation 
in  the  P.P.  text,]  is  clearly  a  blunder. 

Dowden:  [Cf.  Drayton,  Idea,  S.  20;  especially  lines  I,  3,  13-14:] 

An  evil  Spirit  (your  beauty)  haunts  me  still, 

Wherewith,  alas,  I  have  been  long  possest; 

Which  ceaseth  not  to  attempt  me  to  each  ill, 

Nor  give  me  once  but  one  poor  minute's  rest. 

In  me  it  speaks,  whether  I  sleep  or  wake: 

And  when  by  means  to  drive  it  out  I  try, 

With  greater  torments  then  it  me  doth  take, 

And  tortures  me  in  most  extremity. 

Before  my  face  it  lays  down  my  despairs, 

And  hastes  me  on  unto  a  sudden  death : 

Now  tempting  me  to  drown  myself  in  tears; 

And  then  in  sighing  to  give  up  my  breath. 
Thus  am  I  still  provok'd  to  every  evil, 
By  this  good-wicked  Spirit,  sweet  Angel-Devil. 

Tyler:  A  comparison  of  this  sonnet  with  Sh.'s  can  scarcely  make  it  other  than 
probable  that  the  resemblance  is  not  accidental.  But  as  S.  144  was  contained 
in  the  Passionate  Pilgrim  (1599),  it  might  seem  possible  that  Drayton  had  seen 
it  in  this  collection,  and  that  he  imitated  it  later  in  the  same  year.  [Other  sim- 
ilarities, however  (see  notes  on  Sonnets  19,  46,  74,  141),  lead  Tyler  to  believe 
that  Drayton  was  familiar  with  Sh.'s  Sonnets  as  a  whole.]  (pp.  39-42.)  Fleay: 
The  possession  of  the  dark  woman  by  the  angel-man  exactly  corresponds  to 
that  of  Drayton  by  his  angel- woman.  (Biog.  Chron.,  2:  226.)  Lee:  This  son- 
net is  adapted  from  Drayton.  .  .  .  But  Sh.  entirely  alters  the  point  of  the  lines 
by  contrasting  the  influence  exerted  on  him  by  the  woman  with  that  exerted 
on  him  by  a  man.  (Life,  p.  153m)  Wyndham:  The  likeness  is  but  of  phrasing, 
for  Drayton  refers  only  to  one  person,  and  if,  as  I  believe,  [Sonnets  127-152 
were  written  at  the  same  time  as  33-42,]  —  perhaps  in  1598  or  the  early  part  of 
1599  —  Drayton's  sonnet  seems  just  such  a  superficial  plagiarism  as  are  his 
later  sonnets,  published  first  in  1619,  of  Sh.'s  numbers  in  the  later  groups.  [See 
notes  on  116,  5-8.]  Beeching:  Both  sonnets  appeared  in  1599,  and  probably 
one  was  suggested  by  the  other,  but  which  by  which?  Mr.  Lee  says,  tout  court, 
"  Even  this  sonnet  is  adapted  from  Drayton."  I  should  say,  "  Even  this  sonnet 
is  adapted  from  Sh.!"  On  Mr.  Lee's  theory  one  has  to  believe  that  Sh.  built  up 
his  whole  sonnet  subject  of  "a  man  right  fair"  and  "a  woman  colour 'd  ill"  from 
this  germ  sonnet,  for  which  he  was  indebted  to  a  suggestion  from  Drayton.  It 
may  have  been  so,  but  one  desiderates  a  grain  of  proof,  (p.  137m)  [For  myself,  I 
desiderate  a  grain  of  proof  that  either  sonnet  must  have  been  suggested  by  the 
other.  Surely  the  subjects  are  distinct;  and  as  to  phrasing,  the  words  "evil," 
"spirit,"  and  "devil,"  were  no  less  familiar  in  Sh.'s  time  than  now.  —  Ed.] 


348  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE        [cxliv 

Krauss:  [Cf.  Sidney,  A.  &  S.,  5th  Song,  st.  14:] 

Yet  witches  may  repent.  Thou  art  far  worse  than  they. 

Alas!  that  I  am  forc'd  such  evil  of  thee  to  say. 

I  say  thou  art  a  devil!  though  cloth'd  in  angel's  shining; 

For  thy  face  tempts  my  soul  to  leave  the  heavens  for  thee, 

And  thy  words  of  refuse  do  pour  even  hell  on  me. 

Who  tempt,  and  tempted  plague,  are  devils  in  true  denning. 

Walsh:  In  2  H.  4,  II,  iv,  362-66  (supposed  to  have  been  written  in  1598), 
there  is  something  about  a  boy  with  "a  good  angel  about  him,"  but  whom  "the 
devil  binds  too,"  and  a  woman  who  "is  in  hell  already,  and  burns  poor  souls"; 
which  may,  or  not,  be  reminiscent. 

2.  sugiest.  Malone:  Tempt.  [So  Dowden,  Rolfe,  Tyler,  Wyndham,  etc.] 
Schmidt:  Prompt  or  inform  underhand,  whisper.  Beeching:  Not  necessarily 
"tempt,"  but  "whisper  advice,"  whether  good  or  bad.  [The  absolute  personal 
object  favors  Malone's  interpretation.  —  Ed.] 

4.  collour'd  ill.  [Shall  space  be  found  here  to  record  a  discovery  of  Ache- 
son's,  connecting  this  line  with  his  identification  of  the  dark  lady  with  Mistress 
Jane  Davenant?  One  of  the  poems  prefixed  to  Willobie  his  Aviso,  (see  p.  478, 
below)  opens  with  the  line  "In  Lavine  Land  though  Livie  boast,"  and  the  first 
thirteen  letters  of  this  form  the  anagram  "111  Jn.  Davenant."  This,  says  Mr. 
Acheson,  is  an  obvious  allusion  to  the  present  passage,  and  the  discovery  pro- 
vides the  title  of  his  pamphlet,  "A  Woman  Coloured  111."] 

5.  win  me  soone  to  hell.  Massey:  Sh.'s  meaning  can  only  be  apprehended 
by  following  it  according  to  the  laws  of  [the  old  game  of]  Barley- Break.  .  .  . 
The  game  turns  upon  breaking  the  law,  and  also  on  being  caught  and  con- 
demned to  Hell.  Those  who  are  in  Hell  are  the  bad  angels;  those  who  are  out- 
side are  the  good.  To  tempt,  or  lure,  catch  or  carry,  the  good  one  to  Hell,  the  fe- 
male pursues  the  male  player.  When  she  has  caught  him  he  must  go  to  Hell  with 
her  and  become  a  devil  in  the  Hell  of  the  bad  angels.  The  catching  is  followed 
by  kissing  in  Hell  as  it  is  in  the  game  of  "Kiss-in-the-Ring."  And  the  speaker 
in  the  sonnet  has  a  presaging  fear  lest  this  part  of  the  game  should  be  carried 
out  in  earnest.  [See  the  account  in  the  Arcadia;  Lamon's  song  of  Strephon  and 
Klaius,  Bk.  1.]  .  .  .  [Since,  according  to  the  rules,]  the  "man  right  fair"  could 
only  be  the  "better  angel"  to  a  speaker  who  is  a  woman,  [and]  the  "better 
angel"  as  a  male  could  only  be  tempted  from  the  side  of  a  woman,  ...  it  is 
doubly  impossible  for  the  speaker  to  be  Sh.  or  any  other  man.  (pp.  135-36.) 
[Sidney's  description  is  as  follows: 

Then  couples  three  be  streight  allotted  there; 
They  of  both  ends,  the  middle  two  doe  flie, 
The  two  that  in  mid  place  Hell,  called  were, 
Must  strive  with  waiting  foot  and  watching  eye 
To  catch  of  them,  and  them  to  Hell  to  beare, 
That  they,  as  well  as  they,  Hell  may  supplie. . . . 


cxliv]         THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  349 

There  may  you  see,  soone  as  the  middle  two 
Doe  coupled  towards  either  couple  make, 
They  false  and  fearefull  do  their  hands  undoe, 
Brother  his  brother,  friend  doth  friend  forsake, 
Heeding  himselfe,  cares  not  how  fellow  do, 
But  of  a  stranger  mutuall  help  doth  take. 

{Poems,  Grosart  ed.,  2:  134-35.) 

In  his  note,  Grosart  states  that,  "whatever  the  rules  under  which  the  couple  in 
hell  attacked  and  pursued  the  couple  they  singled  out,  either  of  the  pursued 
were  saved  by  joining  with  one  of  the  other  out-couple  of  the  opposite  sex." 
It  will  be  noticed  that  there  is  no  warrant  in  Sidney's  account  for  the  implica- 
tion that  the  players  called  themselves  "angels"  and  "devils,"  and  the  whole 
analogy  is  very  doubtful.  Even  if  Sh.  alluded  in  his  phrasing  to  the  terms  of  the 
game,  it  does  not  follow  that  he  was  careful  to  identify  his  three  characters 
with  persons  of  the  appropriate  sex.  —  Ed.] 

6.  Steevens:  Cf.  Oth.,  V,  ii,  208:  "Curse  his  better  angel  from  his  side." 
[This  parallel  is  interesting  for  the  suggestion  that  the  image  in  the  sonnet  has 
to  do  with  the  speaker's  guardian  angel.  —  Ed.] 

9.  McClumpha:  Cf.  R.  &  /.,  Ill,  ii,  75:  "Beautiful  tyrant!  Fiend  angeli- 
cal!" (Jahrb.,  40:  202.) 

9-10.  Lee:  Cf.  Jodelle,  Contr'  Amours,  No.  6: 

Ja  si  long  temps  faisant  d'un  Diable  un  Ange 
Vous  m'ouvrez  l'ceil  en  l'iniuste  louange, 
Et  m'aveuglez  en  l'iniuste  tourment. 

(Life,  p.  122m) 

11.  from.  Dowden:  Away  from.  each.  Abbott:  For  "each  other."  (§  12.) 

12.  Shindler:  [A]  reference  to  a  well-known  story  of  Boccaccio.  (Gent. 
Mag.,  272:  78.)  [Shindler  probably  refers  to  the  tale  of  "  putting  the  devil  in 
hell,"  the  10th  of  the  third  day  in  the  Decameron.  —  Ed.] 

14.  Beeching:  The  reference  here,  which  the  Elizabethans  thought  jocular, 
is  made  plainer  by  2  H.  4,  II,  iv,  365,  quoted  by  Dowden.  [See  Walsh's  note 
above.]  fire  .  .  .  out.  Lee:  The  expression  .  .  .  had  a  literary  character  in  Sh.'s 
day.  .  .  .  Cf.  Guilpin's  Skialetheia  (1598,  ed.  Grosart,  p.  17):  "But  He  be 
loth  (wench)  to  be  fired  out."  [Lee  discusses  the  history  of  the  phrase  at  some 
length  in  the  Ath.,  Jan.  19,  1901,  p.  80.  See  also,  in  N.  &»  Q.,  10th  s.,  8:  454, 
some  account  of  it  in  relation  to  modern  slang.] 

[Interpreters  of  all  schools  tend  to  make  this  a  "key  sonnet":  those  who 
divide  the  collection  into  two  "series"  finding  here  the  two  persons  respectively 
addressed;  Massey  finding  a  clue  to  his  "dramatic"  theory;  and  Simpson  and 
others  one  to  the  philosophy  of  the  Sonnets.  Simpson  says:]  The  two  loves 
answer  to  friendship  and  concupiscence,  the  amor  amicitiae  and  amor  concupis- 
centiae  of  the  schools.  The  former  love  has  its  revolutions,  but  each  time  it 
returns  to  itself  with  renewed  strength.  .  .  .  The  other  love  is  the  false  infinite 


350  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cxlv 

—  the  eternal  alternation  yes  and  no,  .  .  .  fickle,  false,  and  fraudulent  —  per- 
verse, self-contradictory,  and  full  of  change,   (p.  37.) 

Rolfe:  [The  view  that  the  publication  of  this  sonnet  in  1599  shows  that  the 
others  dealing  with  the  same  subject  were  written  before  that  time]  is  clearly 
a  misinterpretation  of  that  sonnet,  which,  instead  of  marking  the  end  of^the 
story,  really  belongs  to  a  comparatively  early  stage  of  it.  .  .  .  The  poet  says 
that  the  woman  "tempteth"  (not,  has  succeeded  in  seducing)  his  friend.  She 
"would  corrupt"  him,  but  whether  she  has  actually  done  it,  he  adds,  "Suspect 
I  may,  but  not  directly  tell."  ...  In  Sonnets  34-35  he  had  no  doubt  that  the 
"woman  coloured  ill"  had  corrupted  his  "better  angel."  (Intro.,  rev.  ed.,  pp. 
38-39.) 


145 
Those  lips  that  Loues  owne  hand  did  make, 
Breath'd  forth  the  sound  that  said  I  hate, 
To  me  that  languisht  for  her  sake: 
But  when  she  saw  my  wofull  state, 
Straight  in  her  heart  did  mercie  come,  5 

Chiding  that  tongue  that  euer  sweet, 
Was  vsde  in  giuing  gentle  dome : 
And  tought  it  thus  a  new  to  greete: 
I  hate  she  alterd  with  an  end,  9 

That  follow'd  it  as  gentle  day, 
Doth  follow  night  who  like  a  fiend 
From  heauen  to  hell  is  flowne  away. 

I  hate,  from  hate  away  she  threw, 

And  sau'd  my  life  saying  not  you. 

2.  I  hate]  Italics  by  M,  A,  Kly,  Co8,  Hu2;  quoted  by  Kt,  Co1'2,  B,  Del,  Hu1, 
Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Wh,  Hal,  Cam,  Do,  R,  etc. 

7.  dome]  doome  1640,  G,  etc. 

8.  a  new]  a-new  G,  S,  E,  M;  anew  A,  etc. 

9.  13.  I  hate]  Italics  by  G2,  S2,  E,  M,  A,  Kly,  Co8,  Hu2;  quoted  by  Kt,  Co1-2, 
B,  Del,  Hu1,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Wh,  Hal,  Cam,  Do,  R,  etc. 

11.  fiend]  friend  G2. 

13.  from  .  .  .  threw]  —  away  from  hate  she  flew  Stee  conj. 

14.  not  you]  Italics  by  G2,  S2,  E,  M,  A,  Kly,  Co8,  Hu2;  quoted  by  Kt,  Co1'2, 
B,  Del,  Hu1,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Wh,  Hal,  Cam,  Do,  R,  etc.  you]  Italics  by 
S1;  yet  Hal  [error]. 


cxlv]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  351 

Dowden:  The  only  sonnet  written  in  eight-syllable  verses.  Some  critics, 
partly  on  this  ground,  partly  because  the  rhymes  are  ill-managed,  reject  it  as 
not  by  Sh.  Wyndham:  This  sonnet  .  .  .  [has]  an  unpleasing  assonance  between 
the  rhyme-sounds  of  the  first  quatrain,  and  but  little  in  it  that  recalls  Sh.'s 
hand  save  "That  follow'd  it  as  gentle  day  doth  follow  night."  Acheson:  Sh. 
certainly  did  not  write  [this  sonnet],  nor  did  any  one  to  whom  the  title  of  poet 
might  be  applied:  it  is  possibly  a  flight  of  Southampton's  own  muse.  (Sh.  &  the 
R.  P.,  p.  48.)  Beeching:  An  occasional  sonnet,  having  no  connection  with  the 
series.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  its  Shakespearean  authorship.  [See  Mas- 
sey's  note  on  S.  96,  and  Mackail's  on  128.]  Lee:  A  playful  lyric  in  octo- 
syllabics, like  Lyly's  song  of  "  Cupid  and  Campaspe";  its  tone  has  close  affinity 
to  that  and  other  of  Lyly's  songs.  (Life,  p.  98.)  [Isaac  quotes  W.  Konig 
(Jahrb.,  II:  137)  as  noting  that  Giordano  Bruno  wrote  sonnets  in  four-foot 
iambics,  and  adds  that  one  of  Wyatt's  is  in  the  same  metre.   (Archiv,  60:  49.)] 

7.  dome.  Schmidt:  Judgment,  sentence. 

ii.  Steevens:  Cf.  H.  5,  IV,  Prol.,  21:  "Night  who,  like  a  foul  and  ugly 
witch,"  etc. 

13.  Steevens:  Such  sense  as  these  sonnets  abound  with  may  perhaps  be 
discovered  as  the  words  at  present  stand;  but  I  had  rather  read:  "/  hate  — 
away  from  hate  she  flew,"  etc.,  [i.e.,]  Having  pronounced  the  words  "I  hate," 
she  left  me  with  a  declaration  in  my  favour.  M alone:  The  meaning  is  —  she 
removed  the  words  "I  hate"  to  a  distance  from  hatred;  she  changed  their 
natural  import  ...  by  subjoining  "not  you."  The  old  copy  is  certainly  right. 
[Cf.  Lucrece,  I534~37:] 

"It  cannot  be,"  quoth  she,  "that  so  much  guile"  — 
She  would  have  said  "can  lurk  in  such  a  look"; 
But  Tarquin's  shape  came  in  her  mind  the  while, 
And  from  her  tongue  "can  lurk"  from  "cannot"  took. 

Horace  Davis:  Cf.  Longfellow's  translation  of  Purgatorio,  5:  66  ("Pur  che 
il  voler  nonpossa  non  ricida"):  "Unless  the  I  cannot  cut  off  the  I  will." 

Brandl  [observes  that  this  sonnet  is  addressed  to  a  good-natured  sweetheart 
—  wholly  different  from  the  dark  lady.  He  finds  pleasure  in  reflecting  that 
there  was  one  worthy  soul  in  London  "for  whom  Sh.  warmed  with  tenderness." 
(pp.  xxv,  xix.)] 


352  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE         [cxlvi 

146 

Poore  soule  the  center  of  my  sinfull  earth, 

My  sinfull  earth  these  rebbell  powres  that  thee  array, 

Why  dost  thou  pine  within  and  suffer  dearth 

Painting  thy  outward  walls  so  costlie  gay? 

Why  so  large  cost  hauing  so  short  a  lease,  5 

Dost  thou  vpon  thy  fading  mansion  spend? 

Shall  wormes  inheritors  of  this  excesse 

Eate  vp  thy  charge?  is  this  thy  bodies  end? 

Then  soule  Hue  thou  vpon  thy  seruants  losse,  9 

And  let  that  pine  to  aggrauat  thy  store; 

Buy  tearmes  diuine  in  selling  houres  of  drosse: 

Within  be  fed,  without  be  rich  no  more, 

So  shalt  thou  feed  on  death,  that  feeds  on  men, 
And  death  once  dead,  ther's  no  more  dying  then, 

1.  center]  tenant  Sebastian  Evans  conj. 

2.  My  .  .  .  these]  FooVd  by  those  M,  A,  Co,  B,  Hu1,  Kly;  FooVd  by  these  Kt, 
Del,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Wh1,  Hal,  Ox;  Starved  by  the  Stee  conj.;  Starved  by  these  But; 
Thrall  to  these  Kinnear  conj.,  N,  Wa;  Slave  of  these  Cartwright;  Leagued  with 
these  Brae  conj.,  Hu2;  Foil'd  by  these  Palgrave  conj.,  Massey  conj.;  Hemm'd 
with  these  Furnivall  conj.;  Press' d  by  these  Do,  R;  Why  feed' st  these  Ty;  Sport 
of  these  Sharp;  Lord  of  these  Her  conj.;  Feeding  these  Sebastian  Evans  conj.; 
SpoiVd  by  these  Spence  conj.;  Vex'd  by  these  Rushton  conj.;  My  sins,  those  Bul- 
loch conj.;  Sinful  thro1  Nicholson  conj.;  .  .  .  these  Gl,  Cam,  Wh2,  Her,  Be. 
rebbell  powres]  powers  C.  that  thee  array]  array  Massey  conj.,  Wy,  Bull, 
array]  aray  1640,  G1,  Hu2;  warray  Sebastian  Evans  conj.,  Guiney  conj. 

4.  walls]  wall  Wa.       so]  in  1640,  G.       so  costlie  gay]  in  costly  clay  S,  E. 

6.  fading]  faded  S,  E. 

7.  inheritors]  in  heritors  1640;  in  Herriots  G2. 
10.  thy]  my  L. 

C.  A.  Brown:  An  address  to  his  own  soul,  the  solemn  nature  of  which  cannot 
be  regarded  as  congruous  with  the  rest.  [This  sonnet  and  145  should  be  ex- 
punged from  the  poem  constituted  by  127-152.]  [See  Massey's  note  on  129, 
for  his  view  of  the  two  sonnets  as  a  pair  suggested  by  two  of  Sidney's.  The 
6econd  of  Sidney's  is  as  follows:] 

Leave  me,  O  love!  which  reachest  but  to  dust! 
And  thou,  my  mind!  aspire  to  higher  things! 


cxlvi]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  353 

Grow  rich  in  that  which  never  taketh  rust! 

Whatever  fades  but  fading  pleasure  brings. 

Draw  in  thy  beams,  and  humble  all  thy  might 

To  that  sweet  yoke  where  lasting  freedoms  be! 

Which  breaks  the  clouds,  and  opens  forth  the  light 

That  doth  both  shine  and  give  us  sight  to  see. 

O  take  fast  hold!  Let  that  light  be  thy  guide! 

In  this  small  course  which  birth  draws  out  to  death: 

And  think  how  evil  becometh  him  to  slide, 

Who  seeketh  heaven,  and  comes  of  heavenly  breath! 

Then  farewell,  world!  Thy  uttermost  I  see! 

Eternal  Love,  maintain  thy  love  in  me! 
Simpson  [also  compares  this  sonnet  with  Sidney's,  and  adds  that  its  phrase- 
ology recalls  that  of  Chaucer's  "recantation"  at  the  close  of  the  Canterbury 
Tales:]  "This  blisful  regne  may  men  purchace  by  poverte  espirituel,  and  the 
glorie  by  loweness,  the  plente  of  joye  by  hunger  and  thurst,  and  the  rest  by  tra- 
vaile,  and  the  life  by  deth  and  mortificacioun  of  synne."  (p.  73.)  Main  [notes 
other  sonnets  of  similar  religious  tone:  Barnes,  49  and  97  of  the  Divine  Century: 
Griffin,  27  and  29  of  Fidessa;  Davies,  13  of  Wit's  Pilgrimage;  and  one  of  Breton's 
Soul's  Harmony  (Grosart  ed.,  p.  5),  beginning,  "The  worldly  prince  doth  in 
his  sceptre  hold."]  Furnivall  [describes  the  sonnet  as]  a  remonstrance  with 
himself  on  spending  too  much,  either  on  dress  or  outward  self-indulgence,  and 
exhorting  himself  to  give  it  up  for  inward  culture.  (Intro.,  p.  lxvi.)  Tyler 
[even  more  definitely  makes  his  interpretation  secular;  see  his  note  on  line  II.] 
Rolfe:  Eminently  a  religious  sonnet,  though  it  seems  to  have  been  misunder- 
stood by  Tyler.  Brandl  [connects  the  sonnet  with  144,  finding  in  it  the  poet's 
solution  of  the  problem  of  choice  between  good  and  evil.  Like  the  old  man  in 
Marlowe's  Faustus,  who  lost  his  body  to  the  devil  but  saved  his  soul,  so  Sh. 
hopes  that  his  soul  will  live  through  its  "servant's  loss."  (p.  xxv.)]  G.  H. 
Palmer  [also  treats  the  sonnet  as  an  integral  part  of  the  series,  —  as  fitted, 
indeed,  to  stand  as  the  conclusion  of  the  whole,  and  as  related  to  the  dark-lady 
group,  since  it  is  precisely  "in  the  intensity  and  bewilderment  of  sin"  that  "the 
possibility  of  a  spiritual  immortality  is  revealed."]  Sh.  saw  his  passions  to  be 
matters  of  a  moment,  and  so  by  contrast  became  aware  of  an  imperial  Self 
which  could  not  be  subjected  to  temporary  influences  without  shame.  .  .  .  Was 
he  true  to  that  deep  insight?  ...  Or  did  he  lose  himself  again  in  solicitations  of 
the  flesh?  Who  but  himself  can  say?  Once  at  least,  we  know,  he  looked  into 
immortality,    (pp.  47,  56,  57.) 

1.  Malone:  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  II,  i,  1-2: 

Can  I  go  forward  when  my  heart  is  here? 
Turn  back,  dull  earth,  and  find  thy  centre  out; 
and  ilf.F.,V,i,  63-65: 

Such  harmony  is  in  immortal  souls; 
But  whilst  this  muddy  vesture  of  decay 
Doth  grossly  close  it  in,  we  cannot  hear  it. 


354  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE         [cxlvi 

2.  The  textual  notes  tell  their  own  sad  story  of  the  succession  of  editorial 
labors  on  this  line.  M alone:  It  is  manifest  that  the  composer  inadvertently 
repeated  the  last  three  words  of  the  first  verse  in  the  beginning  of  the  second, 
omitting  two  syllables,  which  are  sufficient  to  complete  the  metre.  What  the 
omitted  word  or  words  were,  it  is  impossible  now  to  determine.  Rather  than 
leave  an  hiatus,  I  have  hazarded  a  conjecture.  Steevens:  I  would  read 
"Starv'd  by,"  etc.  The  dearth  complained  of  in  the  succeeding  line  appears  to 
authorise  the  conjecture.  The  poet  seems  to  allude  to  the  short  commons  and 
gaudy  habit  of  soldiers.  Ingleby  [discusses  the  line  at  length,  especially  in 
defence  of  his  interpretation  of  "array"  as  "afflict,  ill-treat."  Malone's  emen- 
dation is  untenable,  because  it  implies  that  the  rebel  powers  stultify  the  soul  in 
the  matter  of  her  raiment;  on  the  contrary,  the  soul  herself  is  said  to  deck  and 
paint  her  tenement,  not  herself.  The  leading  words  seem  to  have  a  direct 
application  to  the  proximate  substantive,  "earth,"  and  the  second  line  should 
be  a  justification  of  the  expression  "sinful  earth."  Hence  Brae's  emendation, 
"Leagu'd  with,"  is  preferable,  because  it  implies  that  the  earth  is  the  accom- 
plice of  the  rebel  powers:  the  flesh,  and  its  lusts  are  leagued  in  the  work  of 
defrauding  the  soul  of  her  frightful  nutriment.  (The  Soule  Arayed,  passim.) 
Furnivall,  for  his  conjecture,  "Hemmed,"  cites  V.  &  A.,  1022,  "Hemm'd 
with  thieves."  (Intro.,  p.  lxvi.)]  Dowden:  What  is  the  meaning  of  "array"? 
Does  it  mean  to  put  raiment  on?  .  .  .  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  word  "aray" 
or  "array"  was  used  in  [the  sense  of  "abuse,"  "afflict,"  according  to  Ingleby], 
by  Elizabethan  writers,  and  Sh.,  T.  of  S.,  Ill,  ii,  53  and  IV,  1,  3,  uses  "raied," 
though  nowhere  "aray,"  except  perhaps  here,  in  this  or  a  kindred  sense.  ...  In 
support  of  the  general  opinion  that  "array"  means  invest  in  raiment,  cf.  M.V., 
V,  i,  64  [quoted  above].  The  "rebel  powers"  and  the  "outward  walls"  perhaps 
receive  some  illustration  from  the  following  lines,  Lucrece,  722-26: 

She  says  her  subjects  with  foul  insurrection 
Have  batter'd  down  her  consecrated  wall, 
And  by  their  mortal  fault  brought  in  subjection 
Her  immortality,  and  made  her  thrall 
To  living  death  and  pain  perpetual. 

.  .  .  Some  emendation  being  necessary,  I  suggest  "Pressed  by."  Cf.  139,  8. 
Kinnear  [cites  the  passage  quoted  by  Dowden  from  Lucrece  (line  725)  in  sup- 
port of  the  emendation  "Thrall'd."  (Cruces,  p.  503.)]  Rolfe:  [Dowden's 
conjecture]  is  on  the  whole  as  good  a  guess  as  any  that  has  been  made.  .  .  . 
We  prefer  [the  interpretation  of  Ingleby]  to  that  which  makes  "array"  = 
clothe  —  which  seems  to  us  forced  and  unnatural  here  —  but  we  should  prefer 
Massey's  "set  their  battle  in  array  against"  to  either,  if  any  other  example  of 
this  meaning  could  be  found.  Perhaps  the  turn  thus  given  to  the  military  sense 
is  no  more  remarkable  than  the  liberties  Sh.  takes  with  sundry  other  words; 
and  here  the  exigencies  of  the  rhyme  might  justify  it.  Verity:  I  think  that 
"array"  must  mean  clothe;  the  body  is  the  vesture  which  encloses  the  soul, 
and  the  soul  says,  with  St.  Paul,  "Who  will  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this 


cxlvi]        THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  355 

death?"  Massey  [having  in  his  first  work  proposed  to  read,  "My  sinful  earth 
these  rebel  powers  array,"  in  his  second  work  (The  Secret  Drama)  proposes 
"Foiled  by"  etc.,  seemingly  unaware  that  it  had  already  been  proposed  by 
Palgrave.  He  finds  the  word  suggested  by  Sidney's  poem  beginning  "  If  I  could 
think  how  these  my  thoughts  to  leave": 

If  rebel  sense  would  reason's  law  receive, 
Or  reason  foiled  would  not  in  vain  contend.] 

Here  the  "rebel  sense"  presents  the  original  of  the  "rebel  powers,"  and  "rea- 
son foiled"  suggests  the  right  word  at  last.  (p.  226n.)  Tyler  [defending  the 
emendation  "Why  feed'st"]:  The  principal  subject  is  manifestly  the  feeding 
of  the  body  and  soul;  and  the  conclusion  come  to  is,  that  the  latter,  and  not 
the  former,  is  to  be  fed.  .  .  .  Moreover,  the  "my"  of  line  1  and  the  "why" 
commencing  alike  lines  2  and  3  may  have  been  the  cause  of  confusion  and  error. 
Then,  too,  there  is  a  verse  of  Southwell's  "Content  and  Ritche"  which  Sh. 
may  have  had  in  view: 

Spare  diett  is  my  fare, 

My  clothes  more  fitt  than  fine; 
I  khowe  I  feede  and  cloth  a  foe 

That  pamprd  would  repine. 

B.  Nicholson,  [{N.  &  Q.,  7th  s.,  11:  364),  defends  his  emendation,  "Sinful, 
thro',"  on  the  ground  that  the  most  probable  cause  of  the  compositor's  mis- 
taken repetition  of  the  three  words  is  that  one  of  them  was  repeated  in  the  MS. 
The  poet's  earth  is  sinful  not  merely  through  hereditary  taint,  but  through  her, 
because  of  the  charms  that  the  devil  and  his  angels  had  given  her.   In  12:  423 

C.  C.  B.  objects  to  this,  on  the  ground  that  it  is  not  conceivable  that  the  sonnet 
is  addressed  to  the  dark  lady.]  Wyndham:  Massey's  emendation  [of  "powers 
array"]  has  the  merit  of  adding  nothing  to  the  text,  and  of  restoring  euphony 
to  one  of  the  finest  among  Sh.'s  sonnets.  There  is  warrant  for  repeating  the 
last  words  of  a  preceding  line;  cf.  142,  1-2;  90,  1-2;    V.  &  A.,  963-64: 

Both  crystals,  where  they  view'd  each  other's  sorrow, 
Sorrow  that  friendly  sighs  sought  still  to  dry. 

.  .  .  There  may  well,  as  so  often  in  the  Sonnets,  be  double  meaning  in  the  word 
["array":]  (1)  beleaguer,  afflict;  (2)  adorn.  Beeching:  The  difficulty  is  in- 
creased by  the  uncertainty  of  what  was  the  image  in  the  poet's  mind.  It  seems 
at  first  to  be  that  of  a  castle  besieged  by  rebels,  as  in  Lucrece,  722-23 ;  then  it 
changes  to  that  of  a  mansion  with  an  improvident  householder.  If  "array" 
can  mean  "hem  in  like  a  besieging  army,"  we  could  read  equally  well  "  Lord  of," 
or  "Thrall  to,"  or  "Starv'd  by."  [Massey's  and  Wyndham's  reading  does  not 
account  for  the  words  "that  thee";  and  in  the  parallel  repetitions  cited  by 
Wyndham  there  is  none  of  more  than  a  single  word.]  Porter:  The  repetition 
is  so  poetically  effective  that  it  seems  intentional.  .  .  .  The  extra  foot,  though 
it  may  have  been  an  oversight,  lends  an  explicitness  needed  as  to  the  array  of 
the  body's  powers  .  .  .  against  the  soul;  and  the  repetition  adds  an  emphasis 


356  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE         [cxlvi 

to  the  further  explicitness.  Miss  L.  I.  Guiney  [( N.  Sf  Q.,  I  ith  s.,  4:  84),  appar- 
ently not  knowing  of  its  having  been  long  since  proposed  by  Sebastian  Evans, 
proposes  "  warray"  for  "array,"  in  the  sense  of  invade  and  beleaguer;  cf.  F.Q., 
bk.  i,  c.  5,  st.  48:  "That  first  the  world  with  sword  and  fire  warrayed";  and 
Selimus,  "The  earth  with  unknown  armour  did  warray."  That  a  soul  can  be 
fooled,  or  foiled,  or  hurt  by  rebel  powers  warraying  her,  is  eminently  intelligible, 
and  is  built  on  a  magnificent  metaphor.  Miss  Guiney  also  suspects  that 
"centre"  (line  1)  may  be  for  "centrie"  =  sentry;  but  the  word  is  not  used  by 
Sh.,  and  if  the  spelling  of  the  Q,  "center,"  had  been  noticed,  the  suggestion 
might  not  have  been  made.]  Lee:  [For  "array"]  the  ordinary  meaning  of 
"clothe"  or  "adorn"  seems  alone  consistent  with  the  "costly  gay"  ornament 
in  which,  according  to  line  4,  the  powers  of  sin  have  invested  the  soul's  external 
home.  [For  the  meaning  "trouble,  afflict,"  see  N.  E.  D.,  s.  v.,  10,  5,  where  is 
quoted  The  Passion  of  Christ  (ab.  1600):  "Vyce,  .  .  .  Whiche  hathe  hym  so 
Encombered  and  arayed."  No  evidence  is  given  for  the  meaning  "beleaguer" 
or  "besiege."  —  Ed.] 

4.  Wyndham:  Cf.  Macb.,  V,  v,  1:  "Hang  out  our  banners  on  the  outward 
walls."  Beeching:  There  seems  reason  to  suppose  that  this  idea  was  in  the 
poet's  mind,  but  that  he  modified  the  expression  in  order  to  suit  the  human 
body  rather  than  the  castle  with  which  he  was  comparing  it.  Sarrazin  [finds 
here  evidence  that  Sh.  had  been  in  Italy,  as  the  practice  of  painting  the  exterior 
of  buildings  was  unknown  in  England.    (Jahrb.,31 :  229.)] 

5.  short  a  lease.  Cf.  124,  10. 

7-8.  Tyler:  Cf.  Haml.,  IV,  iii,  23:  "We  fat  all" creatures  else  to  fat  us,  and 
we  fat  ourselves  for  maggots";  and  V,  i,  99:  "  Did  these  bones  cost  no  more  the 
breeding,  but  to  play  at  loggats  with  'em?" 

8.  charge.  Schmidt:  Expense.  Tyler:  What  has  cost  thee  so  much. 

9.  Porter:  The  royal  right  of  the  Soul  is  to  live  by  the  body's  service,  and 
by  its  defeat  and  at  its  expense  to  outlive  it. 

9-14.  J.  M.  Robertson:  An  echo  of  much  of  Montaigne's  discourse.  .  .  . 
It  more  particularly  echoes  two  passages  in  the  19th  essay:  "There  is  no  evil 
in  life  for  him  that  hath  well  conceived  how  the  privation  of  life  is  no  evil.  To 
know  how  to  die,  doth  free  us  from  all  subjection  and  constraint."  "No  man 
did  ever  prepare  himself  to  quit  the  world  more  simply  and  fully  .  .  .  than  I 
am  fully  assured  I  shall  do.  The  deadest  deaths  are  the  best."  {Sh.  &  Mon- 
taigne, p.  162.) 

10.  Walsh:  Cf.  L.  L.  L.t  I,  i,  25:  "The  mind  shall  banquet,  though  the 
body  pine."  aggravat.  Schmidt:  Make  greater,  thy.  M alone:  The  error 
that  has  been  so  often  already  noticed,  has  happened  here;  the  original  copy, 
and  all  the  subsequent  impressions,  reading  "my."  [Here  Homer  nodded  rather 
strangely;  for  not  only  is  the  error  in  question  confined  to  the  Lintott  volume, 
but  the  error  of  "my"  for  "thy"  has  not  been  often  noticed  in  the  Sonnets. 
As  the  Cambridge  editors  remark,  the  Bodleian  copy  of  Q,  which  belonged  to 
Malone  himself,  reads  "thy."  It  was  doubtless  Malone's  note  which  led 
Collier  to  say  that  some  of  the  copies  of  Q  read  "my  store."] 


cxlvi]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  357 

11.  tearmes  divine.  Schmidt  [glosses  "divine"  as  "holy."]  Walker: 
"Terms"  in  the  legal  and  academic  sense:  long  periods  of  time,  opposed  to 
hours.  [Cf.  92,  2.  —  Ed.]  Tyler:  To  be  understood  most  probably  of  immor- 
tal renown,  which  is  to  be  purchased  by  sacrificing  a  few  years  of  life  to  intent 
study  and  enthusiastic  literary  work.  Verity:  I  think  "terms"  means  condi- 
tions, as  though  it  were  the  terms  of  some  bargain  and  compact  between  soul 
and  body.  Beeching:  " Terms  divine "  =  eternity.  [This  last  is  undoubtedly 
right;  "heavenly  periods"  (literally)  are  opposed  to  "hours  of  dross."  — Ed.] 

12.  rich.  Massey  [finds  here  a  pun  on  the  name  of  Lady  Penelope  Rich,  as 
in  Sidney's  A.  &  S.  (p.  238.)  This  is  also  the  view  of  Henry  Brown  (p.  232.)] 

13.  feed  on  death.  Beeching:  By  withdrawing  food  from  what  dies  and  so 
diminishing  the  diet  of  death,  we  are  said  to  "feed  on  death." 

14.  Furnivall:  He  declares  his  belief  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  [Cf. 
Donne,  Sonnet  10: 

One  short  sleep  past,  we  wake  eternally, 

And  Death  shall  be  no  more;  Death,  thou  shalt  die. 

—  Ed.] 

This  sonnet  was  translated  into  Latin  verse  by  E.  D.  S.,  N.  6?  Q.,  10th  s.,  1 : 
204. 


358  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE        [cxlvii 

147 
My  loue  is  as  a  feauer  longing  still, 
For  that  which  longer  nurseth  the  disease, 
Feeding  on  that  which  doth  preserue  the  ill, 
Th'vncertaine  sicklie  appetite  to  please: 
My  reason  the  Phisition  to  my  loue,  5 

Angry  that  his  prescriptions  are  not  kept 
Hath  left  me,  and  I  desperate  now  approoue, 
Desire  is  death,  which  Phisick  did  except. 
Past  cure  I  am,  now  Reason  is  past  care,  9 

And  frantick  madde  with  euer-more  vnrest, 
My  thoughts  and  my  discourse  as  mad  mens  are, 
At  randon  from  the  truth  vainely  exprest. 

For  I  haue  sworne  thee  faire,  and  thought  thee  bright, 
Who  art  as  black  as  hell,  as  darke  as  night. 

2.  disease]  decease  E. 

4.  Th'vncertaine]  The  uncertain  M,  A,  Kt,  B,  Del,  CI,  Gl,  Kly,  Cam,  Do,  R, 
Wh2,  But,  Her,  Ox,  Be,  N.  vncertaine  sicklie]  Hyphened  by  Del,  Sta,  Dy2,  Hu2. 
7.  desperate]   (desperate)  C.       approoue,]  approoue.  L;  approve.  S1,  Co3; 
approve-,  G,  S2,  E;  approve,  —  C;  approve  Kt,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Cam,  Do,  etc. 
9.  care]  cure  G,  S,  E. 

10.  frantick  madde]  Hyphened  by  M,  B,  Del,  Dy,  Sta,  Gl,  Cam,  Co3,  Do,  Hu2, 
R,  Wh2,  Wy,  etc. 
12.  randon]  randome  1640,  etc. 

Isaac  [discusses  the  parallel  treatment  of  love  as  a  disease  or  madness,  noting 
Petrarch,  Triumph  of  Love,  3d  Song,  v.  106,  and  Epist.  Poet.,  1,7;  Michelangelo, 
S.  36;  a  sonnet  of  Giordano  Bruno's  (see  Jahrb.,  11 :  136);  Lodge,  Phillis,  S.  26; 
Drayton,  Idea,  S.  41  ("Love's  Lunacy");  etc.  In  Sh.'s  own  works,  cf.  S.  119; 
L.  L.  L.,  IV,  iii,  95;  M.for  M.,  I,  ii,  132-34;  Cor.,  I,  i,  182.  Cf.  also  Plato  in 
the  Phcedrus,  passim.  (Archiv,  61:  191-93.)]  Krauss:  Cf.  Sidney,  A.  &  S.r 
5th  Song,  1.  78:  "No  witchcraft  is  so  evil,  as  which  man's  mind  destroyeth." 

[Mr.  Horace  Davis  notes  the  resemblance  of  this  sonnet  to  Sonnets  1 18-1 19. 
Cf.  especially  the  repetition  of  the  notions  "fever,"  "disease,"  "appetite," 
"  prescriptions  "  ("  medicine  ").] 

3-4.  Dowden  [is  able  to  persuade  himself  that  these  lines  furnish  a  link  with 
146,  12-13.] 


cxlvii]         THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  359 

5.  Malone:  [Cf.  M.  W.  W.t  II,  i,  5,  in  Farmer's  reading:  "Though  Love  use 
Reason  for  his  physician," — the  Folio  reading  "precisian."]  Massey:  Cf. 
Sidney,  "If  rebel  sense  would  reason's  law  receive."  [In  the  poem  beginning, 
"If  I  could  think  how  these  my  thoughts  to  leave,"  1598.] 

7.  approove.  Cf.  70,  5.  Beeching:  Find  by  experience.  [The  impression  of 
the  comma  following  this  word  in  some  copies  looks  much  like  a  period,  and  it 
is  so  described  by  the  Cambridge  editors;  this  may  account  for  the  reading  in 
Lintott's  edition.  —  Ed.] 

7-8.  Dowden:  I,  who  am  desperate,  now  experience  that  desire  which  did 
object  to  physic,  is  death. 

8.  except.  Schmidt:  Object  to. 

9.  Malone:  A  proverbial  saying.  [Cf.  L.  L.  L.,  V,  ii,  28:  "Great  reason; 
for  past  cure  is  still  past  care";  and  Holland's  Leaguer  (1632):  "She  has  got 
this  adage  in  her  mouth:  'Things  past  cure,  past  care.'"] 

14.  Steevens:  Cf.  L.  L.  L.,  IV,  iii,  254-55: 

Black  is  the  badge  of  hell, 
The  hue  of  dungeons  and  the  suit  of  night. 
Tyler:  Cf.  131,  12-14. 

[My  friend  Professor  H.  D.  Gray  observes:]  The  bitterness  of  this  and  Son- 
nets 150-152  could  scarcely  be  due  to  the  same  cause  as  that  which  led  Sh.  to 
the  denoilment  of  his  series  40-42.  Compare  the  concluding  couplets  of  42  and 
the  present  sonnet.  They  cannot  belong  to  the  same  story  —  at  least  not  in 
the  same  stage  of  that  story. 

[On  the  vituperative  element,  cf.  Lee's  notes  under  S.  127,  and  further  as 
follows:]  Every  sonneteer  of  the  16th  century,  at  some  point  in  his  career, 
devoted  his  energies  to  vituperation  of  a  cruel  siren.  Ronsard  in  his  sonnets 
celebrated  in  language  quite  as  furious  as  Sh.'s  a  "  fierce  tigress,"  a  "murderess," 
a  "Medusa."  ...  In  Sh.'s  early  life  the  convention  was  wittily  parodied  by 
Gabriel  Harvey  in  "An  Amorous  Odious  sonnet  intituled  The  Student's  Loove 
or  Hatrid,  or  both  or  neither,  or  what  shall  please  the  looving  or  hating  reader, 
either  in  sport  or  earnest,  to  make  of  such  contrary  passions  as  are  here  dis- 
coursed." [Cf.  also  the  Contr'  Amours  of  Jodelle,  quoted  under  137  and  144.] 
The  dark  lady  of  Sh.'s  sonnets  may  therefore  be  relegated  to  the  ranks  of  the 
creatures  of  his  fancy.  It  is  quite  possible  that  he  may  have  met  in  real  life  a 
dark-complexioned  siren,  and  it  is  possible  that  he  may  have  fared  ill  at  her 
disdainful  hands.  But  ...  it  was  the  exacting  conventions  of  the  sonneteering 
contagion,  and  not  his  personal  experiences  or  emotions,  that  impelled  Sh.  to 
give  "the  dark  lady  "  of  his  sonnets  a  poetic  being.  {Life,  pp.  121-23.) 

E.  S.  Bates:  Sh.'s  attack  upon  the  morality  of  his  mistress  [is  wholly  un- 
Petrarchistic].  Mr.  Lee  has  indeed  cited  a  number  of  alleged  parallelisms  from 
poems  of  Ronsard  and  others  calling  their  mistresses  "tigresses"  and  "Me- 
dusas" because  of  their  hard  hearts,  but  the  cases  are  not  in  point,  since  these 
remonstrances  are  caused  by  the  immovable  chastity  of  the  mistress,  while  in 
Sh.  they  are  caused  by  her  fickle  unchastity.   {Mod.  Philology,  8:  17.) 


3<5o  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE      [cxlviii 

148 

O  me!  what  eyes  hath  loue  put  in  my  head, 

Which  haue  no  correspondence  with  true  sight, 

Or  if  they  haue,  where  is  my  iudgment  fled, 

That  censures  falsely  what  they  see  aright? 

If  that  be  faire  whereon  my  false  eyes  dote,  5 

What  meanes  the  world  to  say  it  is  not  so? 

If  it  be  not,  then  loue  doth  well  denote, 

Loues  eye  is  not  so  true  as  all  mens:  no, 

How  can  it?  O  how  can  loues  eye  be  true,  9 

That  is  so  vext  with  watching  and  with  teares? 

No  maruaile  then  though  I  mistake  my  view, 

The  sunne  it  selfe  sees  not,  till  heauen  cleeres. 

O  cunning  loue,  with  teares  thou  keepst  me  blinde, 
Least  eyes  well  seeing  thy  foule  faults  should  finde. 

7.  loue]  that  Lettsom  conj.,  Hu2. 

8.  eye]  ay  [italics]  Co3.        all  mens]  mens  E.       mens:  no]  men's  no.  Walker- 
Lettsom  conj.,  Dy2,  Co3,  Hu2,  R  [no  in  italics  in  Co3];  men's  "No."  Gl,  Wh2. 

[See  note  at  the  end  of  S.  137,  on  its  connection  with  this  and  the  following 
sonnets.] 

Massey:  [Cf.  Sidney's  sonnet  in  Arcadia  (Poems,  Grosart  ed.,  2:  87):] 
Transform'd  in  show,  but  more  transform'd  in  mind, 
I  cease  to  strive,  with  double  conquest  foiled; 
For  (woe  is  me!)  my  powers  all  I  find 
With  outward  force  and  inward  treason  spoiled,   [etc.] 

(p.  248.) 
Isaac:  Cf.  M.N.  D.,  I,  i,  232-37: 

Things  base  and  vile,  holding  no  quantity, 
Love  can  transpose  to  form  and  dignity. 
Love  looks  not  with  the  eyes  but  with  the  mind, 
And  therefore  is  wing'd  Cupid  painted  blind. 
Nor  hath  Love's  mind  of  any  judgement  taste; 
Wings  and  no  eyes  figure  unheedy  haste. 
Walsh:  Cf.  T.  &  C,  V,  ii,  110-112: 

The  error  of  our  eye  directs  our  mind. 
What  error  leads  must  err;  O,  then  conclude 
Minds  sway'd  by  eyes  are  full  of  turpitude. 


cxlviii]       THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  361 

Von  Mauntz:  Cf.  Ovid,  Metam.,  vii,  20-21:  "Video  meliora  proboque: 
deteriora  sequar." 

4.  censures.  M alone:  Estimates. 

7.  denote.  Schmidt:  Indicate. 

7-8.  Tyler:  The  sense  may  be,  that  the  fact  of  a  man's  being  in  love  is  suf- 
ficient evidence  (sufficiently  "denotes")  that  he  cannot  see  aright. 

8.  Walker:  Ought  we  not  to  affix  a  longer  stop  to  "no"?  Otherwise  the 
flow  seems  not  to  be  Shakespearian.  Lettsom:  Ought  we  to  stop  here?  Ought 
we  not  to  expunge  the  colon  before  "no,"  and  write  "as  all  men's  no"?  Sh. 
seems  to  intend  a  pun  on  eye  and  I,  i.e.,  ay.  Staunton:  We  believe  with  Lett- 
som that  a  quibble  was  intended,  and  that  the  poet  wrote,  "Love's  eye  (I  = 
aye)  is  not  so  true  as  all  men's  no."  Wyndham:  This  exquisite  piece  of  punctu- 
ation in  Q  has  been  frequently  destroyed  by  emendation.  [To  this  Percy 
Simpson  agrees,  regarding  the  punctuation  as  important  for  a  "passage  of 
exceptional  beauty."  (Sh.  Punctuation,  p.  9.)!  Beeching:  Probably  the  pun 
belongs  to  the  second  "eye"  in  line  9,  and  line  8  should  read,  "Love's  'ay'  is 
not  so  true  as  all  men's  'no. '"  The  punctuation,  howeevr,  of  Q  is  so  unusually 
precise  that  I  have  not  ventured  to  change  it.  Lee:  No  particular  sanctity 
attaches  to  this  perplexing  punctuation  of  the  Q.  The  colon  looks  like  a  typo- 
graphical superfluity  and  may  well  take  the  place  of  the  comma  after  "no." 
A  pun  .  .  .  seems  obviously  intended.  [A  respectable  pun  must  have  a  meaning 
on  each  side  of  it,  and  it  does  not  seem  to  have  occurred  to  the  commentators 
who  find  one  here  to  provide  such  a  meaning  for  a  line  with  the  "eye"  standing 
in  it.  (Beeching,  of  course,  avoids  this  objection  by  introducing  the  pun  in 
the  following  line  only.)  Moreover,  is  it  not  rather  pointless  to  read,  "Love's 
affirmative  is  not  so  true  as  all  men's  negative?"  Whereas  "Love's  eye  is  more 
inaccurate  than  that  of  any  man"  is  just  the  meaning  needed.  I  shall  not 
undertake  to  defend  this  position  on  purely  textual  grounds;  for  it  is  quite  true, 
as  Lee  observes,  that  the  punctuation  of  the  Q  is  far  from  sacred,  and  the 
rhythm  of  "mens:  no,"  while  it  may  be  "exquisite,"  is  very  exceptional.  — Ed.] 

9-10.  Sarrazin:  Cf.  R.  3,  I,  ii,  167:  "Made  them  blind  with  weeping." 
(Sh.'s  Lehrjahre,  p.  155.) 

12.  McClumpha:  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  II,  iii,  73:  "The  sun  not  yet  thy  sighs  from 
heaven  clears."   (Jahrb.,  40:  196.) 

13.  love.  Dowden:  He  is  perhaps  speaking  of  his  mistress,  but  if  so,  he 
identifies  her  with  Love,  —  views  her  as  Love  personified.  Tyler:  There  is 
manifestly  some  distinction  between  the  "Love"  here  spoken  of  [and,  in  line  1] 
and  the  "Love"  of  lines  8-9. 


362  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE        [cxlix 

149 

Canst  thou  O  cruell,  say  I  loue  thee  not, 
When  I  against  my  selfe  with  thee  pertake: 
Doe  I  not  thinke  on  thee  when  I  forgot 
Am  of  my  selfe,  all  tirant  for  thy  sake? 
Who  hateth  thee  that  I  doe  call  my  friend,  5 

On  whom  froun'st  thou  that  I  doe  faune  vpon, 
Nay  if  thou  lowrst  on  me  doe  I  not  spend 
Reuenge  vpon  my  selfe  with  present  mone? 
What  merrit  do  I  in  my  selfe  respect,  9 

That  is  so  proude  thy  seruice  to  dispise, 
When  all  my  best  doth  worship  thy  defect, 
Commanded  by  the  motion  of  thine  eyes. 
But  loue  hate  on  for  now  I  know  thy  minde, 
Those  that  can  see  thou  lou'st,  and  I  am  blind. 

3.  I  forgot]  I,  forgot,  Wa. 

4.  Am]  All  S,  E.  my  selfe,]  myself  But,  Wa.  all  tirant]  all,  tyrant,  S1, 
C;  all  tyrant,  M,  A,  Kt,  Co,  B,  Del,  Hu,  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Wh,  Hal,  Cam,  Do, 
R,  Ty,  Ox,  Her,  N,  Wa;  all-tyrant,  Hazlitt,  Kly,  Be;  all  truant  M  conj. 

5.  hateth  thee]  hateth  thou  G1;  hatest  thou  S,  E.  I  doe]  do  I  G1,  S1. 
friend,]  friend?  G2,  S2,  etc. 

6.  vpon]  upon  ?  G2,  etc. 
12.  eyes.]  eyes?  G2,  S2,  etc. 

Isaac:  Who  would  not  think  [in  reading  this  sonnet],  of  the  third  scene  of 
Act  I  of  A.  6f  C,  which  has  precisely  the  same  situation  as  a  basis? 

2.  pertake.  Steevens:  Take  part. 

4.  all  tirant.  See  textual  notes.  M alone:  For  the  sake  of  thee,  thou  tyrant. 
Dowden:  Thou  complete  tyrant!  Tyler:  When  I  ...  am  reckless  of  my  own 
interests,  and  thus  play  the  tyrant  towards  myself.  [Yet  Tyler  keeps  the  comma 
after  "tyrant";  and  he  admits  the  possibility  of  referring  the  word  to  the  lady, 
in  view  of  "cruel"  in  line  I.]  Wyndham:  The  Q  reading  is  almost  certainly 
correct;  and  the  plain  sense  is:  "I  forget  myself,  a  tyrant  to  myself  for  your 
sake."  [So  Butler  and  Porter.]  Beeching:  [Wyndham's]  paraphrase  omits 
"all,"  which  has  no  force  as  applied  to  the  poet.  Rolfe:  Possibly  vocative. 
[If  the  comma  is  omitted  after  "tyrant,"  and  the  word  is  referred  to  the  speaker, 
I  should  prefer  to  read  it  as  explained  by  line  2  (a  little  differently  from  Tyler) : 


cl]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  363 

tyrannically  cruel  —  like  you  —  to  myself;  or,  in  like  manner,  explained  by 
the  second  quatrain,  —  cruel  to  everyone  on  whom  you  frown.  —  Ed.] 

5.  Cf.  89,  14. 

5-6.  Simpson:  Cf.  H.  8,  II,  iv,  27-33: 

When  was  the  hour 
I  ever  contradicted  your  desire, 
Or  made  it  not  mine  too?  Or  which  of  your  friends 
Have  I  not  strove  to  love,  although  I  knew 
He  were  mine  enemy?   What  friend  of  mine 
That  had  to  him  deriv'd  your  anger,  did  I 
Continue  in  my  liking? 

12.  Tyler:  Cf.  Sonnets  132,  139. 

14.  Massey:  Cf.  Sidney,  A.  &  5.,  62:  "That  love  she  did,  but  lov'd  a  love 
not  blind."   (p.  247.) 

Isaac:  The  last  four  lines  .  .  .  indicate  that  the  poet  is  no  longer  sinking 
hopelessly  in  his  passion,  but  already  begins  to  view  it  objectively;  so  that  this 
sonnet,  despite  all  its  fervour,  is  to  be  looked  at  as  the  beginning  of  the  end  of 
the  connection.   (Archiv,  60:  52.) 

Oh  from  what  powre  hast  thou  this  powrefull  might, 

With  insufficiency  my  heart  to  sway, 

To  make  me  giue  the  lie  to  my  true  sight, 

And  swere  that  brightnesse  doth  not  grace  the  day? 

Whence  hast  thou  this  becomming  of  things  il,  5 

That  in  the  very  refuse  of  thy  deeds, 

There  is  such  strength  and  warrantise  of  skill, 

That  in  my  minde  thy  worst  all  best  exceeds? 

Who  taught  thee  how  to  make  me  loue  thee  more,  9 

The  more  I  heare  and  see  iust  cause  of  hate, 

Oh  though  I  loue  what  others  doe  abhor, 

With  others  thou  shouldst  not  abhor  my  state. 

If  thy  vnworthinesse  raisd  loue  in  me, 

More  worthy  I  to  be  belou'd  of  thee. 

2.  sway,]  sway?  G1,  M,  etc. 
8.  best]  bests  G,  S. 
10.  cause]  chuse  G1.        hate,]  hate?  G,  etc. 


364  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cl 

[With  this,  and  the  related  sonnets,  Von  Mauntz  compares  Ovid,  Amores, 
III,  xi,  43-48:] 

Facta  merent  odium,  facies  exorat  amorem: 

Me  miserum!  vitiis  plus  valet  ilia  suis! 
Parce,  per  o  lecti  socialia  jura,  per  omnes, 

Qui  dant  fallendos  se  tibi  saepe,  deos, 
Perque  tuam  faciem,  magni  mihi  numinis  instar, 
Perque  tuos  oculos,  qui  rapuere  meos! 

[Marlowe's  translation: 

Her  deeds  gain  hate,  her  face  entreateth  love; 

Ah,  she  doth  more  worth  than  her  vices  prove. 

Spare  me,  O  by  our  fellow  bed,  by  all 

The  gods  who  by  thee  to  be  perjur'd  fall, 

And  by  thy  face,  to  me  a  power  divine, 

And  by  thine  eyes  whose  radiance  burns  out  mine!] 

2.  insufficiency.  Schmidt:  Incompetency.  Dowden:  Defects.  [The  only 
other  occurrence  of  the  word  in  Sh.  is  in  M.  N.  D.,  II,  ii,  128: 

Is't  not  enough,  is't  not  enough,  young  man, 
That  I  did  never,  no,  nor  never  can, 
Deserve  a  sweet  look  from  Demetrius'  eye, 
But  you  must  flout  my  insufficiency? 

—  a  passage  which  seems  to  support  Dowden's  gloss.  The  choice  of  the  word 
here,  however,  would  seem  to  be  due  to  its  meaning  "absence  of  power,"  "im- 
potency."  "This  is  the  paradox  of  your  'powerful  might,'  that  you  rule  by 
qualities  which  elsewhere  would  appear  to  be  the  want  of  might."  —  Ed.] 

4.  Steevens:  Cf.  R.  &  J.,  Ill,  v,  18-19: 

I  am  content,  if  thou  wilt  have  it  so: 

I  '11  say  yon  grey  is  not  the  morning's  eye. 

5.  becomming.  Schmidt:  Grace.  [Cf.  A.  &  C,  I,  iii,  96:  "My  becomings 
kill  me  when  they  do  not  eye  well  to  you."]  Malone:  Cf.  A.  &  C,  II,  ii,  244: 
"Vilest  things  become  themselves  in  her";  and  ibid.,  I,  i,  49:  "Fie,  wrangling 
queen!  whom  everything  becomes." 

5-8.  F.  V.  Hugo:  Cf.  Moliere,  Le  Misanthrope,  II,  v: 

L'amour,  pour  l'ordinaire,  est  peu  fait  a  ces  lois, 

Et  Ton  voit  les  amants  vanter  toujours  leurs  choix.  .  .  . 

lis  comptent  les  defauts  pour  des  perfections. 

7.  warrantise.  Schmidt:  Pledge.  Tyler:  Evidence. 
9-10.  Malone:  Cf.  Catullus,  85: 

Odi  et  amo;  quare  id  faciam,  fortasse  requiris: 
Nescio,  sed  fieri  sentio  et  excrucior. 


cli]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  365 

[and  Terence,  Eunuchus,  70-73] : 

O  indignum  f acinus!  nunc  ego 
Et  illam  scelestam  esse  et  me  miserum  sentio; 
Et  taedet,  et  amore  ardeo,  et  prudens,  sciens, 
Vivus,  vidensque  pereo,  nee  quid  agam  scio. 

[Isaac  makes  this  sonnet  the  basis  for  an  interesting  excursus  on  Sh.'s 
women,  emphasizing  especially  its  suggestiveness  in  connection  with  Cleo- 
patra.  (Archiv,  60:  55-6i-)l      v 

151 
Loue  is  too  young  to  know  what  conscience  is, 
Yet  who  knowes  not  conscience  is  borne  of  loue, 
Then  gentle  cheater  vrge  not  my  amisse, 
Least  guilty  of  my  faults  thy  sweet  selfe  proue. 
For  thou  betraying  me,  I  doe  betray  5 

My  nobler  part  to  my  grose  bodies  treason, 
My  soule  doth  tell  my  body  that  he  may, 
Triumph  in  loue,  flesh  staies  no  farther  reason, 
But  rysing  at  thy  name  doth  point  out  thee,  9 

As  his  triumphant  prize,  proud  of  this  pride, 
He  is  contented  thy  poore  drudge  to  be 
To  stand  in  thy  affaires,  fall  by  thy  side. 
No  want  of  conscience  hold  it  that  I  call, 
Her  loue,  for  whose  deare  loue  I  rise  and  fall. 

2.  loue,]  love  ?  G,  etc. 
6.  grose]  great  Bo. 
8.  farther]  further  Hu,  Ox. 
10.  this]  his  E,  Walker  conj. 

13.  hold]  holds  Wh2,  N  [error;  not  Tu]. 

14.  loue]  Italics  by  Co3,  Hu2;  quoted  by  Dy,  Sta,  CI,  Gl,  Cam,  Do,  R,  etc. 

[Massey,  with  what  Dowden  calls  "unhappy  ingenuity,"  interprets  this 
sonnet  as  based  on  Sidney's  A.  &  S.,  91,  the  theme  (in  Sidney's  words,  "you 
in  them  I  love")  being  that  the  poet  is  betrayed  into  sin  with  others  by  his 
mistress's  image,   (pp.  247-48.)] 

Wyndham:  A  piece  of  amatorious  argument.  The  reference  to  "conscience" 
in  lines  1,2,  13  suggests  that  it  was  written  in  reply  to  an  appeal,  probably 
playful,  addressed  to  the  poet's  conscience. 


366  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cli 

i.  Massey:  Cf.  Sidney,  A.  &  S.,  73:  "Love  still  a  boy  and  oft  a  wanton  is." 
(p.  250.) 

2.  Dowden:  Cf.  M.  W.  W.,  V,  v,  32:  "Why,  now  is  Cupid  a  child  of  eon- 
science."  [The  similarity  of  these  passages,  even  though  contradictory,  sug- 
gests that  there  may  be  an  allusion  to  some  current  proverb,  of  which,  how- 
ever, I  know  no  evidence.  —  Ed.] 

3.  cheater.  Staunton:  Escheator,  an  official  who  appears  to  have  been 
regarded  by  the  common  people  in  Sh.'s  day  much  the  same  as  they  now  look 
upon  an  informer.  Dowden:  The  more  obvious  meaning  "rogue"  makes  bet- 
ter sense.  Schmidt:  Swindler,  amisse.  Cf.  35,  7. 

8.  Porter:  This  and  other  such  expressions  in  this  sonnet  have  caused  it 
to  be  taken  merely  in  a  fleshly  sense.  While  all  that  such  expressions  suggest 
underlies  the  phraseology,  they  constitute  but  a  metaphor  of  the  deeper  sense. 
This  sense  asserts  the  triumph  and  rise  of  love  by  the  subservience  to  it  of  the 
body.  [This  is,  on  the  whole,  the  most  remarkable  of  all  the  examples  of  the 
process  of  viewing  Sh.  as  meaning  two  different  things  at  the  same  time.  —  Ed.] 

9.  thy  name.  [Tyler  and  Brandl  are  disposed  to  think  this  implies  a  pun- 
ning allusion,  in  the  sonnet,  to  the  lady's  name.] 

10.  triumphant.  Schmidt:  Victorious  (the  prize  of  his  triumph),  pride. 
Tyler:  Proud  conquest,  alluding  most  likely  to  the  lady's  rank. 

14.  rise  and  fall.  Tyler:  Rise  in  the  triumph  of  the  flesh,  and  fall  in  the 
subjugation  and  humiliation  of  the  soul.  Rolfe:  [This  paraphrase]  is  too  seri- 
ous for  the  general  tone  of  the  sonnet,  which  is  the  only  one  in  the  series  which 
is  frankly  and  realistically  gross. 

Isaac:  It  goes  without  saying  that  this  sonnet  was  written  earlier  than  S. 
129.   (Archiv,  60:  45.) 


clii]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  367 

152 
In  louing  thee  thou  know'st  I  am  forsworne, 
But  thou  art  twice  forsworne  to  me  loue  swearing, 
In  act  thy  bed-vow  broake  and  new  faith  torne, 
In  vowing  new  hate  after  new  loue  bearing: 
But  why  of  two  othes  breach  doe  I  accuse  thee,  5 

When  I  breake  twenty:  I  am  periur'd  most, 
For  all  my  vowes  are  othes  but  to  misuse  thee : 
And  all  my  honest  faith  in  thee  is  lost. 
For  I  haue  sworne  deepe  othes  of  thy  deepe  kindnesse:       9 
Othes  of  thy  loue,  thy  truth,  thy  constancie, 
And  to  inlighten  thee  gaue  eyes  to  blindnesse, 
Or  made  them  swere  against  the  thing  they  see. 

For  I  haue  sworne  thee  faire:  more  periurde  eye, 

To  swere  against  the  truth  so  foule  a  lie. 

2.  me  loue  swearing]  me,  Love-swearing  S1. 
6.  twenty:]  twenty?  G,  etc. 

13.  eye]  I  S,  etc.  (except  Wa). 

2-4.  Isaac  [would  omit  the  comma  after  "swearing,"  reading:  Thou  art 
twice  forsworn,  (1)  to  me  love  swearing  in  act,  etc.;  (2)  new  faith  torn,  etc. 
(Archiv,  60:  37.)]  Fleay  [would  punctuate:] 

But  thou  art  twice  forsworn  to  me  (love)  swearing; 
In  act  —  thy  bedvow  broke  and  new  faith  torn; 
In  vowing  —  new  hate  after  new  love  bearing. 

(Biog.  Chron.,  2:  223.) 

3.  In  act.  Tyler:  As  the  words  are  commonly  regarded,  they  are  unsuitable 
and  superfluous.  If,  however,  in  accordance  with  Elizabethan  usage,  we  take 
these  words  as  meaning  "in  fact,"  "in  reality,"  much  light  is  thrown  on  the 
place.     [Cf.  Oth.,  I,  i,  150-52: 

For  he's  embark'd 
With  such  loud  reason  to  the  Cyprus  wars, 
Which  even  now  stands  in  act.] 

.  .  .  Says  Iago,  "The  appointment  is  already  as  good  as  made;  it  'even  now 
stands  in  act.'"  .  .  .  Similarly,  in  the  Sonnet  —  taking  "in  act"  as  equivalent 
to  "in  reality,"  "in  fact"  —  Sh.'s  mistress  had  broken  her  marriage  vow  in  act, 
though  she  may  have  alleged  that  the  marriage  was  set  aside,  or  was  treated  as 


368  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cm 

null  and  void.  [All  this  with  reference  to  an  hypothetical  early  marriage  of 
Mrs.  Fitton.]  (Academy,  Dec.  15,  1888,  p.  389.)  bed-vow  broake.  [See  note 
following  S.  142.]  Rolfe:  This  seems  to  imply  that  the  lady  was  married,  but 
"bed- vow"  may  possibly  refer  to  her  illicit  relations  with  the  poet,  to  whom 
she  had  pledged  a  "faith  unfaithful,  falsely  true."  ...  It  is  singular  that  else- 
where in  the  Sonnets  we  should  find  no  reference  to  a  husband  if  she  had  one. 
Fleay:  I  take  the  "bed vow  broke"  to  mean,  not  her  unfaithfulness  to  her 
husband,  but  her  refusal  to  fulfil  a  promised  assignation  with  Sh.  (Biog. 
Chron.,  2:223.) 

3-5.  Wyndham:  This  reference  to  a  double  infidelity  shows  that  the  Dark 
Lady,  who  had  broken  her  bed-vow,  soon  also  broke  off  her  "new  faith"  with 
the  friend.  The  numbers  of  the  Second  Series  were  written  at  the  same  time 
as  Group  C  (33-42),  and  on  the  same  theme.  That  group  is  but  episodical  in 
the  First  Series;  and  ...  it  seems  probable,  from  the  tenor  of  the  two  main 
discourses  of  the  Second  Series,  that  the  friend,  after  an  explanation  from  the 
poet,  so  acted  as  to  lead  the  Dark  Lady  to  break  off  her  "new  faith"  and  to 
enter  on  a  reintegratio  amoris  with  the  customary  argument  that  it  was  her 
lover,  and  not  she,  who  had  been  remiss  in  love  [cf.  149,  1].  Beeching:  The 
breach  of  "new  faith "  is  in  vowing  " new  hate "  to  the  poet.  There  is  no  refer- 
ence to  breaking  off  the  intrigue  with  the  friend. 

7.  misuse.  Schmidt:  Speak  falsely  of,  misrepresent.  [There  is  no  Shake- 
spearean parallel  for  this  meaning  of  the  word ;  but  it  may  be  taken  as  a  kind  of 
ironic  variant  of  the  meaning  "speak  ill  of,"  as  in  A.  Y.  L.,  IV,  i,  204:  "You 
have  simply  misus'd  our  sex."  —  Ed.] 

9.  kindnesse.  Schmidt:  Affection,  tenderness. 

9-10.  Walsh:  We  possess  no  sonnets  expressing  such  praise,  unless  some 
usually  applied  to  the  friend  belong  to  her  (e.g.,  105). 

11.  Dowden:  To  see  thee  in  the  brightness  of  imagination  I  gave  away  my 
eyes  to  blindness,  made  myself  blind.  Wyndham:  To  shed  a  more  favourable 
light  on  thee,  I  shut  my  eyes. 

13.  eye.  See  textual  notes.  Wyndham:  [The  Q]  may  be  correct,  with  a 
play  on  the  two  words  "I  .  .  .  eye,"  since  it  follows  on  line  12.  Porter:  The 
reference  is  to  the  eye  of  sense  and  "  eyes  "  of  line  II,  now  forsworn  by  himself. 
Walsh:  Here  the  sonnets  leave  the  mistress  and  Sh.'s  love  for  her  —  with  a 
bad  pun.  How  he  recovered  from  his  "fever"  we  are  not  told;  perhaps  he  son- 
neted and  punned  himself  out  of  it. 

Isaac:  [This  sonnet]  either  shortly  preceded  or  followed  the  breaking  off  of 
the  connection.    (Archiv,  60:  39.) 

Butler:  [The  love  of  Sh.'s  mistress  for  W.  H.]  had  been  but  recent,  and 
already  she  was  hating  him.  Whether  the  disappointment  was  on  her  side  or 
on  Mr.  W.  H.'s  does  not  appear,  but  I  suspect  it  to  have  been  on  the  lady's 
[cf.  70,  8  and  94,  3]. 

Wyndham  :  The  Second  Series  ends  with  this  sonnet.  ...  It  is  important ...  to 
remember  that  the  numbers  of  this  series  rank  chronologically  with  33-42,  and 


cliii]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  369 

that,  like  them,  they  are  early  as  well  as  episodical,  and  in  the  main  playful, 
with  but  little,  by  comparison  to  the  later  groups,  of  grave  speculation  and 
ethereal  beauty.  The  poet's  love  for  the  Dark  Lady  may  well  have  been  over 
some  three  years  before  he  took  up  his  pen  to  write  a  "Satire  to  Decay"  (100- 
125). 

153 
Cupid  laid  by  his  brand  and  fell  a  sleepe, 
A  maide  of  Dyans  this  aduantage  found, 
And  his  loue-kindling  fire  did  quickly  steepe 
In  a  could  vallie-fountaine  of  that  ground : 
Which  borrowd  from  this  holie  fire  of  loue,  5 

A  datelesse  liuely  heat  still  to  indure, 
And  grew  a  seething  bath  which  yet  men  proue, 
Against  Strang  malladies  a  soueraigne  cure : 
But  at  my  mistres  eie  loues  brand  new  fired,  9 

The  boy  for  triall  needes  would  touch  my  brest, 
I  sick  withall  the  helpe  of  bath  desired, 
And  thether  hied  a  sad  distemperd  guest. 
But  found  no  cure,  the  bath  for  my  help  lies, 
Where  Cupid  got  new  fire;  my  mistres  eye. 

5.  this]  his  G,  S,  E. 

6.  datelesse  liuely]  Hyphened  by  Sta,  Hul. 

8.  Strang]  strange  1640,  G,  etc. 

9.  eie]  eyes  S,  E. 

11.  withall]  with  all  1640,  G. 

12.  thether]  thither  G,  etc. 
14.  eye]  eyes  1640,  G,  etc. 

M alone:  This  and  the  following  sonnet  are  composed  of  the  very  same 
thoughts  differently  versified.  They  seem  to  have  been  early  essays  of  the  poet, 
who  perhaps  had  not  determined  which  he  should  prefer.  He  hardly  could 
have  intended  to  send  them  both  into  the  world.  Collier:  [They  are  to  be 
looked  upon]  as  if  the  author  had  first  composed  one,  and,  not  quite  pleasing 
himself,  had  afterwards  written  the  other.  Possibly  they  were  not  by  the  same 
hand,  two  different  poets  dealing  with  the  same  fancy. 

W.  Hertzberg  [(Jahrb.,  13:  158)  points  out  that  the  original  source  of  this 
pair  of  sonnets  was  apparently  an  epigram  in  the  Palatine  Anthology,  Bk.  ix, 
No.  637: 


370  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cliii 

Ta^  xmb  rds  irXardvovs  ctaraXy  rerpv/x^pos  H>irv(p 

eZScv  "Epus,  vtip.<pcus  Xapurdda  irapdip.tvos. 
NiJ/x0ot  $  d\\-q\y<Ti,  "  rl  p.4XXop.ev;  aide  U  Totirip 

tcfi4<j<jap.ev"  iIttov,  "  6/xov  irjjp-  Kpadir)s  /xepdTrup." 
Aa/xirds  5'  ws  €<p\e£e  kq.1  {/Sara,  dtppjbv  iKeWev 

Nu/*0ai  'EpwTidSes  Xovrpoxoevviv  vdup. 

The  author  is  Marianus,  a  Byzantine,  probably  of  the  5th  century.  Hertz- 
berg  observes  that  the  germ  of  the  poem  appears  in  an  epigram  attributed  to 
a  certain  Zenodotus,  of  uncertain  date: 

lis  yXifyas  rbv'Epurra  irapa  Kpi]VQ<nv  edrjuev, 
Ol6fj.€i>os  irabatuv  tovto  t6  irvp  CSart. 

The  Palatine  collection  was  first  published  1815-17;  but  an  abridgment,  made 
by  Maximus  Planudes  about  1350,  was  widely  circulated  in  western  Europe; 
and  of  Latin  translations  there  were  also  a  number,  —  Selecta  epigrammatat 
Basel,  1529,  and  some  eight  others  before  the  end  of  the  century.  One  or 
another  of  these  would  surely  have  found  its  way  to  England.  —  Hertzberg  be- 
lieved himself  to  be  the  original  discoverer  of  this  Greek  source  of  the  sonnet, 
and  has  been  generally  credited  with  it  accordingly.  J.  C.  Collins,  however, 
says  that  "  it  had  been  known  long  before,  .  .  .  and  indeed  was  so  notorious  that 
Dr.  Wellesley  in  his  Anthologia  Polyglotta  (1849),  p.  93,  printed  S.  154,  without 
any  remark,  underneath  the  Greek  original."  {Fort.  Rev.,  n.s.,  73:  848m)] 
The  following  is  Mackail's  translation  of  the  Marianus  epigram: 

Here  beneath  the  plane-trees,  overborne  by  soft  sleep,  Love  slumbered, 
giving  his  torch  to  the  Nymphs'  keeping;  and  the  Nymphs  said  one  to  another, 
"Why  do  we  delay?  and  would  that  with  this  we  might  have  quenched  the  fire 
in  the  heart  of  mortals."  But  now,  the  torch  having  kindled  even  the  waters, 
the  amorous  Nymphs  pour  hot  water  thence  into  the  bathing  pool.  {Epigrams 
from  the  Greek  Anthology,  1890,  p.  191.) 

S.  Von  Hegedus  [has  recently  pointed  out  {Ungarische  Rundschau  fur  soziale 

Wissenschaften;  reported  in  Jahrb.,  50:  153)  that  a  version  of  the  epigram  is 

found  in  the  Anthologia  Latina  (Codex  Salmasiani),  No.  271.  The  following  is 

the  text  (ed.  Bucheler  &  Riese,  1:  216):] 

Ante  bonam  Venerem  gelidse  per  litora  Baise 

Ilia  natare  lacus  cum  lampade  iussit  Amorem. 

Dum  natat,  algentes  cecidit  scintilla  per  undas; 

Hinc  vapor  ussit  aquas:  quicumque  natavit,  amavit. 
[Meantime  M.  J.  Wolff  {Jahrb.,  47:  191)  had  noted  an  Italian  version  quoted 
in  Tolomei's  Versi  et  Regole,  1539,  as  follows: 

Tradotto  da  M.  Statio  Romano. 

De  l'acque  di  Baia. 

Al  lido  gia  di  Baia,  sotto  un  bel  Platano  Amore 
♦  Dormendo  stanco  presso  poso  la  face, 

Naiade  Calliroe,  de  li  gioveni  amanti  pietosa, 
Toltola,  l'immerse  nel  vago  freddo  rio. 


Cliii]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  371 

Ilqual,  mentre  dee  smorzarla,  accesi  et  arse, 
Quinci  le  belle  acque  sempre  coccenti  sono. 

And  P.  Tausig  (Jahrb.,  40:  231)  cites  an  analogue  in  a  German  poem  purport- 
ing to  explain  the  origin  of  the  baths  of  Vienna.  Sarrazin  (Jahrb.,  31:  229), 
ready,  as  always,  to  see  evidence  of  a  continental  journey  of  Sh.'s,  suggests  that 
he  may  have  seen  the  Latin  version  of  the  epigram  used  as  a  motto  at  one  of  the 
popular  Italian  spas.] 

Lee:  An  added  detail  Sh.  borrowed  from  a  very  recent  adaptation  of  the 
epigram  in  Giles  Fletcher's  Licia,  1593  (S.  27),  where  the  poet's  Love  bathes  in 
the  fountain,  with  the  result  not  only  that  "she  touched  the  water  and  it 
burnt  with  love,"  but  also 

Now  by  her  means  it  purchas'd  hath  that  bliss 
Which  all  diseases  quickly  can  remove. 

(Life,  p.  113.) 

6.  datelesse.  Cf.  30,  6, 

8.  Strang.  Tyler:  [This]  might  possibly  represent  "strong." 

11.  bath.  Steevens:  Query,  whether  we  should  read  Bath  (i.e.,  the  city  of 
that  name).  The  following  words  seem  to  authorise  it.  Malone:  The  old  copy 
is  certainly  right.  [Cf.  line  7  and  154,  11.]  Plumptre  [(Contemp.  Rev.,  55:584) 
argues  for  the  view  that  Sh.  actually  wrote  the  sonnet  at  Bath,  and  notes  a 
tradition  that  Diana  was  a  kind  of  tutelary  deity  of  the  place.]  Beeching: 
There  is  undoubtedly  a  reference  to  the  Bath  waters,  for  the  Greek  original  says 
nothing  about  curative  powers.  [H.  Pemberton  (New  Shakes peareana,  8:  64) 
develops  the  same  view  (following  an  argument  of  Greenwood's  in  The  Sh. 
Problem  Restated,  p.  127);  the  term  "valley  fountain"  is  thought  to  be  especially 
appropriate;  and  Queen  Elizabeth  may  be  the  "maid  of  Dian's"  and  "the 
fairest  votary."  Sh.  may,  then,  have  written  the  sonnets  for  Lord  Hunsdon, 
who  went  to  Bath  for  the  waters  in  1602,  where  the  Queen  was  also  expected.] 

Dowden:  Shenstone  versifies  anew  the  theme  of  this  and  the  following  son- 
net in  his  "Anacreontic": 

[T  was  in  a  cool  Aonian  glade, 

The  wanton  Cupid,  spent  with  toil, 
Had  sought  refreshment  from  the  shade, 

And  stretch 'd  him  on  the  mossy  soil. 

A  vagrant  Muse  drew  nigh,  and  found 

The  subtle  traitor  fast  asleep; 
And  is  it  thine  to  snore  profound, 

She  said,  and  leave  the  world  to  weep?  .  .  . 

Sleep  on,  poor  child!  whilst  I  withdraw, 

And  this  thy  vile  artillery  hide,  — 
When  the  Castalian  fount  she  saw, 

And  plung'd  his  arrows  in  the  tide.  .  .  . 


372  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  [cliv 

.  .  .  Every  dart, 
Dipt  in  the  Muses'  mystic  spring, 
Acquir'd  new  force  to  wound  the  heart, 
And  taught  at  once  to  love  and  sing.] 


154        . 
The  little  Loue-God  lying  once  a  sleepe, 
Laid  by  his  side  his  heart  inflaming  brand, 
Whilst  many  Nymphes  that  vou'd  chast  life  to  keep, 
Came  tripping  by,  but  in  her  maiden  hand, 
The  fayrest  votary  tooke  vp  that  fire,  5 

Which  many  Legions  of  true  hearts  had  warm'd, 
And  so  the  Generall  of  hot  desire, 
Was  sleeping  by  a  Virgin  hand  disarm'd. 
This  brand  she  quenched  in  a  coole  Well  by,  9 

Which  from  loues  fire  tooke  heat  perpetuall, 
Growing  a  bath  and  healthfull  remedy, 
For  men  diseasd,  but  I  my  Mistrisse  thrall, 
Came  there  for  cure  and  this  by  that  I  proue, 
Loues  fire  heates  water,  water  cooles  not  loue. 
2.  heart  inflaming]  heart  in  flaming  1640,  G,  S,  E;  hyphened  by  C,  M,  etc. 

Isaac  [discusses  the  writing  of  two  sonnets  on  the  same  theme  as  a  conven- 
tion for  which  parallels  are  to  be  found  in  Petrarch,  Michelangelo,  Surrey, 
Sidney,  etc.   (Archiv,  60:  34.)] 

7.  Generall.  Tyler:  Chief  cause  and  promoter. 

9.  Well.  [One  of  the  three  words  in  Q  whose  capitalization  Wyndham  can- 
not explain,   (p.  264.)] 

13.  this.  Dowden:  This  statement  which  follows. 

H.  W.  Barrett:  We  know  not  how  a  more  touching  conclusion  [to  the  Son- 
nets] could  have  been  conceived,  than  this  beautiful  allegory.  Its  very  repeti- 
tion is  one  of  the  finest  strokes  of  poetical  art.  It  is  scarcely  inferior  to  that 
most  affecting  scene,  in  which  Ophelia  appears  —  deliriously  singing  fragments 
of  wild  songs,  and  dancing  so  recklessly  and  unfeelingly  over  the  hot  embers  of 
her  misery.  .  .  .  Those  who  read  the  preceding  sonnets  most  worthily,  will  be 
most  fully  prepared  to  appreciate  the  fine  allegory  of  tears.  (American  Rev., 
6:  309.)  [An  instructive  example  of  the  lengths  to  which  divina'tory  criticism, 
with  the  unity  of  the  sonnet  collection  as  a  basic  assumption,  can  go.  —  Ed.] 


cliv]  THE  SONNETS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  373 

Isaac  [has  a  suspicion,  which  we  may  be  grateful  to  him  for  stating  tenta- 
tively, with  a  "ware  es  zum  Beispiel,"  that  this  pair  of  sonnets  may  be  inter- 
preted symbolically,  the  healing  spring  standing  for  marriage.  In  that  case 
they  may  have  been  written  after  a  journey  home  to  Stratford.  (Archiv,  60:  36.) 
Dowden  observes  (rev.  ed.)  that  this  hardly  agrees  with  154,  12-13.  Miss 
Porter  suspects  an  esoterically  "playful  adaptation  of  this  Cupid  fable  to 
the  Sonnets,"  S.  153  referring  especially  to  the  "first  Series,"  S.  154  to  the 
second.  In  that  case  the  closing  line  sums  up  both:]  Love's  fire  heats  genially 
the  cold  valley  fountain  of  platonic  love,  but  no  such  water  is  cold  enough 
to  cure  the  fever-heat  of  sexual  love. 


APPENDIX 


GENERAL  CRITICISM 

(Selected  with  special  reference  to  the  question  of  the  personal  elements  in  the 
Sonnets,  and  to  their  poetic  form  and  qualities) 

Charles  Gildon:  I  am  confident,  that  tho'  the  Poems  this  Volume  con- 
tains are  extreamly  distinguish'^  in  their  Excellence,  and  Value,  yet  there  is 
not  one  of  themt  that  does  not  carry  its  Author's  Mark,  and  Stamp  upon  it. 
Not  only  the  same  Manner  of  Thinking,  the  same  Turn  of  Thought,  but  even 
the  same  Mode  of  Dress  and  Expression,  the  Decompounds,  his  peculiar  sort 
of  Epithets,  which  distinguishes  his  from  the  Verses  of  all  his  Contempories 
or  Successors.  .  .  .  Whoever  knows  any  thing  of  Shakespear  will  find  his  Genius 
in  every  Epigram  of  these  Poems  in  every  particular  I  have  mention'd,  and  the 
frequent  Catachreses;  his  Starts  aside  in  Allegories,  and  in  short  his  Versifica- 
tion, which  is  very  unequal;  sometimes  flowing  smoothly  but  gravely  like  the 
Thames,  at  other  times  down  right  Prose.  He  never  touches  on  an  Image  in 
any  of  them,  but  he  proves  the  Poem  genuine. 

But  some,  perhaps,  who  are  for  undervaluing  what  they  have  no  Share  in 
may  say,  that  granting  them  to  be  Shakespears,  yet  they  are  not  valuable 
enough  to  be  reprinted,  as  was  plain  by  the  first  Editors  of  his  Works  who  wou'd 
otherwise  have  join'd  them  altogether.* 

To  this  I  answer  —  That  the  Assertion  is  false,  or  were  it  not  it  is  more, 
than  the  Objector  knows  by  his  own  Judgment,  and  Understanding,  but  to 
prove  it  false  we  need  only  consider,  that  they  are  much  less  imperfect  in  their 
Kind,  than  ev'n  the  best  of  his  Plays,  as  will  appear  from  the  Rules  I  shall  lay 
down  immediately;  in  the  next  Place  the  first  Editors  were  Players,  who  had 
nothing  to  do  with  any  thing  but  the  Dramatic  Part,  which  yet  they  publish'd 
full  of  gross  Mistakes,  most  of  which  remain  to  this  Day;  nor  were  they  by  any 
means  Judges  of  the  Goodness  or  Badness  of,  the  Beauties  or  Defects  of  either 
Plays  or  Poems. 

There  is  next  an  Objection,  that  if  these  Poems  had  been  Genuine,  they  had 
been  publish'd  in  the  Life  time  of  the  Author  and  by  himself,  but  coming  out 
afmost  thirty  Years  after  his  Death  there  is  great  Reason  to  suspect  that  they 
are  not  Genuine. 
C— ,  To  this  I  answer,  that  if  nothing  was  to  be  thought  his  but  what  was  pub- 
lish'd in  his  Life  time,  much  the  greater  Number  of  his  Plays  wou'd  be  as 
lyable  to  this  Objection  as  his  Poems.  Next  there  is  indeed,  no  weight  in  the 
Objection,  is  there  any  thing  more  common,  than  the  Publication  of  Works 
of  great  Men  after  their  Death.  .  .  .  No,  no,  there  is  a  Likeness  in  one  Man's 
Children  generally,  which  extends  not  beyond  the  Family,  and  in  the  Children 
of  the  Brain  it  is  always  so,  when  they  are  begot  by  a  Genius  indeed.  Besides 
these  Poems  being  most  to  his  Mistress  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely,  that  she  kept 
*  [All  this,  of  course,  is  directed  against  Rowe  and  his  edition  of  the  Works.  —  Ed.] 


378  APPENDIX 

them  by  her  till  they  fell  into  her  Executors  Hands  or  some  Friend,  who  would 
not  let  them  be  any  longer  conc^al'd-  But  after  all  there  were  more  in  Propor- 
tion of  these  Poems  of  this  Volume,  printed  in  his  Lifetime,  than  of  his  Plays, 
as  is  plain  from  his  Venus  and  Adonis,  his  Tarquin  and  Lucrece,  and  several 
Epigrams  and  Sonnets.  .  .  . 

Tho'  Love  and  its  Effects  are  often  happily  enough  touch'd  in  many  of  these 
Poems,  yet  I  must  confess  that  it  is  but  too  visible,  that  Petrarch  had  a  little 
infected  his  way  of  thinking  on  that  Subject,  yet  who  ever  can  admire  Mr.  Cow- 
ley's Mistress,  has  a  thousand  Times  more  Cause  of  Admiration  of  our  Shake- 
spear  in  his  Love  Verses,  because  he  has  sometimes  such  touches  of  Nature 
as  will  make  Amends  for  those  Points,  those  Epigrammatic  Acumina,  which 
are  not  or  ever  can  be  the  Product  of  a  Soul  truly  touch'd  with  the  Passion  of 
Love.  .  .  . 

All  that  I  have  to  say  of  the  Miscellaneous  Poems  is,  that  they  are  gener- 
ally Epigrams,  and  those  perfect  in  their  kind  according  to  the  best  Rules  that 
have  been  drawn  from  the  Practice  of  the  Ancients,  by  Scaliger,  Lillius 
Giraldus,  Minturnus,  Robertellus,  Correas,  Possovinus,  Pontatrus  Raderus, 
Donatus,  Vossius  and  Vavasser  the  Jesuit,  at  least  as  far  as  they  agree.  .  .  . 

Vavassor  defines  [the  Epigram]  in  his  Treatise  on  this  Subject,  thus.  An 
epigram  is  a  short  Copy  of  Verses,  with  Beauty  and  Point  treating  of  one  only 
thing,  and  concluding  with  a  more  beautiful  Point.  ...  So  that  its  Parts  (says 
Vavassor)  are  but  two  the  expressing  or  reciting  the  Subject,  and  the  Conclu- 
sion; and  its  Beauties  are  Brevity,  and  Acumen  which  I  term  Point.  .  .  . 

The  Way  to  attain  Brevity  is  not  to  aim  at  many  Things  in  the  whole  Epi- 
gram, then  to  express  even  that  little  as  concisely  as  possible,  and  in  such 
Words,  that  to  extend  it  into  more  wou'd  enervate,  and  lose  the  Force  and 
Strength  of  the  Thought,  and  the  Point  or  Acumen, 

The  next  Quality  is  Beauty,  that  is  an  exact  and  harmonious  Formation  of 
the  whole,  and  the  apt  Agreement  of  all  the  Parts  of  the  Poem  from  the  Begin- 
ning to  the  End,  with  a  certain  sort  of  Sweetness,  as  of  a  natural  Colour  with- 
out any  Fucus  on  the  one  Hand,  and  yet  without  any  thing  low  and  mean  on 
the  other;  and  tho'  it  be  plain  and  rude  Nature,  yet  not  a  meer  rustic  Simplic- 
ity void  of  all  Art,  but  that  which  is  agreeable  to  a  Court  Conversation;  and 
the  Language  of  the  Polite.  The  Beauty  of  the  Epigram  must  always  be  ac- 
company'd  with  Sweetness.  And  this  varies  according  to  the  Subject.  If  that 
be  delicate,  soft,  tender,  amorous,  &c.  those  Qualities  will  arise  from  the  well 
expressing  the  Nature  of  the  Subject  that  will  give  Beauty  and  Sweetness. 
In  the  Language  we  ought  rather  to  avoid  that,  which  is  harsh,  or  an  enemy  to 
Sweetness,  than  to  study  too  much  to  find  out  that  which  may  help  and  increase 
it.  The  Point  is  what  the  Epigrammatical  Critics  stand  much  upon,  which  is 
chiefly  in  the  Conclusion  by  ending  with  something  unexpected,  or  biting. 

All  things  are  the  allow'd  Subject  of  the  Epigram;  as  long  as  they  are  treated 
of  with  Brevity,  Point,  and  Beauty.* 

*  [That  Gildon  includes  the  Sonnets  under  the  term  "epigram"  may  be  explained  by  two 
circumstances:  the  fact  that  he  is  reprinting  them  from  the  edition  of  1640,  in  which  the  term 


GENERAL  CRITICISM  379 

How  far  Shakespear  has  excell'd  in  this  Way  is  plain  from  his  Poems  before 
us;  but  this  must  be  allow'd  him,  that  much  of  the  Beauty  and  Sweetness  of 
Expression,  which  is  so  much  contended  for  is  lost  by  the  Injury  of  Time  and 
the  great  Change  of  our  Language  since  his  Time;  and  yet  there  is  a  wonderful 
Smoothness  in  many  of  them,  that  makes  the  Blood  dance  to  its  Numbers. 

("Remarks  on  the  Poems  of  Shakespear,"  in  The  Works  of  W.  Sh.,  Volume 
the  Seventh,  1710,  pp.  445-5°*  457~^3-) 

George  Steevens:  Of  the  sonnets  before  us,  126  are  inscribed  (as  Mr. 
Malone  observes)  to  a  friend :  the  remaining  28  (a  small  proportion  out  of  so 
many)  are  devoted  to  a  mistress.  Yet  if  our  author's  Ferdinand  and  Romeo 
had  not  expressed  themselves  in  terms  more  familiar  to  human  understanding, 
I  believe  few  readers  would  have  rejoiced  in  the  happiness  of  the  one,  or  sym- 
pathized with  the  sorrows  of  the  other.  Perhaps,  indeed,  quaintness,  obscurity, 
and  tautology  are  to  be  regarded  as  the  constituent  parts  of  this  exotic  species 
of  composition. 

Edmund  Malone:  I  do  not  feel  any  great  propensity  to  stand  forth  as  the 
champion  of  these  compositions.  However,  as  it  appears  to  me  that  they  have 
been  somewhat  underrated,  I  think  it  incumbent  on  me  to  do  them  that  jus- 
tice to  which  they  seem  entitled.  .  .  .  When  they  are  described  as  a  mass  of 
affectation,  pedantry,  circumlocution,  and  nonsense,  the  picture  appears  to 
me  overcharged.  Their  great  defects  seem  to  be  a  want  of  variety  and  the 
majority  of  them  not  being  directed  to  a  female,  to  whom  alone  such  ardent 
expressions  of  esteem  could  with  propriety  be  addressed.  It  cannot  be  denied 
too  that  they  contain  some  far-fetched  conceits;  but  are  our  author's  plays 
entirely  free  from  them?  Many  of  the  thoughts  that  occur  in  his  dramatic  pro- 
ductions are  found  here  likewise,  as  may  appear  from  the  numerous  parallels 
that  have  been  cited  from  his  dramas,  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  authenticating 
these  poems.  Had  they  therefore  no  other  merit,  they  are  entitled  to  our  at- 
tention, as  often  illustrating  obscure  passages  in  his  plays.  I  do  not  perceive 
that  the  versification  of  these  pieces  is  less  smooth  and  harmonious  than  that 
of  Sh.'s  other  compositions.  Though  many  of  them  are  not  so  simple  and  clear 
as^they  ought  to  be,  yet  some  of  them  are  written  with  perspicuity  and 
energy. 

Steevens:  The  case  of  these  sonnets  is  certainly  bad,  when  so  little  can 
be  advanced  in  support  of  them.  ...  I  must  add  that  there  is  more  conceit  in 
any- thirty  nix  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets  than  in  the  same  number  of  his  plays. 

BoswelL:  I  cannot  but  admit  that  Mr.  Malone,  in  his  answers  to  Mr.  Stee- 
vens, —  though  I  think,  to  use  Dr.  Johnson's  expression,  they  are  conclusive 
ad  hominem,  —  has  done  but  scanty  justice  to  these  beautiful  compositions.* 
(Plays  and  Poems  of  Sh.,  M alone- Boswell  ed.,  20:  358-63.) 

"sonnets"  did  not  occur,  and  the  fact  that  he  bases  his  remarks  on  the  critics  who  were  con- 
cerned with  classical  poetry  and  for  whom,  therefore,  the  sonnet  had  no  recognized  existence. 
In  this  connection  it  may  be  noted  (as  Professor  W.  D.  Briggs  brings  to  my  attention)  that  Jon- 
son's  56th  Epigram,  "  On  Poet-Ape,"  is  in  the  Shakespearean  sonnet  form.  —  Ed.] 

*  [It  should  be  noted  that  the  greater  portion  of  this  controversy,  not  represented  by  these 
extracts,  concerned  the  merit  of  the  sonnet  as  a  form  of  poetry  rather  than  that  of  the  Sonnets 


_  380  APPENDIX 

William  Wordsworth:  Among  us  it  is  a  current,  I  might  say  an  established 
opinion,  that  Sh.  is  justly  praised  when  he  is  pronounced  to  be  "a  wildLirreg-u- 
lar  genius,  in  whom  great  faults  are  compensated  by  great  beauties."  How 
long  may  it  be  before  this  misconception  passes  away,  and  it  becomes  uni- 
versally acknowledged  that  the  judgment  of  Sh.  in  the  selection  of  his  materials, 
and  in  the  manner  in  which  he  has  made  them,  heterogeneous  as  they  often 
are,  constitute  a  unity  of  their  own,  and  contribute  all  to  one  great  end,  is  not 
less  admirable  than  his  imagination,  his  invention,  and  his  intuitive  knowledge 
of  human  nature! 

There  is  extant  a  small  volume  of  miscellaneous  poems,  in  which  Sh.  ex- 
presses his  own  feelings  in  his  own  person.  It  is  not  difficult  to  conceive  that 
the  editor,  George  Steevens,  should  have  been  insensible  to  the  beauties  of 
one  portion  of  that  volume,  the  Sonnets;  though  in  no  part  of  the  writings  of 
this  poet  is  found,  in  an  equal  compass,  a  greater  number  of  exquisite  feelings 
felicitously  expressed.  But,  from  regard  to  the  critic's  own  credit,  he  would  not 
have  ventured  to  talk  of  an  act  of  parliament  not  being  strong  enough  to  compel 
the  perusal  of  those  little  pieces,*  if  he  had  not  known  that  the  people  of  Eng- 
land were  ignorant  of  the  treasures  contained  in  them. 

(Essay  supplementary  to  the  Preface  to  the  Lyrical  Ballads,  1815.) 

Nathan  Drake:  We  altogether  deny  that  either  affectation  or  pedantry 
can,  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  terms,  be  applied  to  the  Sonnets  of  Sh.  Were 
any  modern,  indeed,  of  the  nineteenth  century  to  adopt  their  language  and 
style,  he  might  justly  be  taxed  with  both;  but  in  Sidney  and  Sh.  it  was  habit, 
indissoluble  habit,  and  not  affectation;  it  was  the  diction  in  which  they  had 
been  practised  from  early  youth  to  clothe  their  sentiments  and  feelings;  it 
was  identified  with  all  their  associations  and  intellectual  operations;  it  was  the 
language,  in  fact,  the  mode  of  expression,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  of  all  their 
contemporaries;  and  to  have  stripped  their  thoughts  of  a  dress  which  to  us 
appears  quaint  and  artificial  would  have  been  to  them  a  painful  and  more 
elaborate  task.  When  once,  indeed,  we  can  attribute  this  artificial,  though 
often  emphatic  style,  as  we  ought  to  do,  to  the  universally  defective  taste  of 
the  age  in  which  it  sprang,  and  not  to  individual  usage,  we  shall  be  prepared  to 
do  justice  to  injured  genius,  and  to  confess,  that  frequently  beneath  this  la- 
boured phraseology  are  to  be  found  sentiments  simple,  natural,  and  touching. 
We  may  also  very  safely  affirm  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets  that,  if  their  style  be  compared 
with  that  of  his  predecessors  and  contemporaries,  in  the  same  department  of 
poetry,  a  manifest  superiority  must  often  be  awarded  him,  on  the  score  of  force, 
dignity,  and  simplicity  of  expression;  qualities  of  which  we  shall  very  soon  af- 
ford the  reader  some  striking  instances. 

of  Sh.  Steevens's  last  word,  and  most  notorious,  appeared  in  the  Advertisement  to  his  1793 
edition  of  Sh.,  where  he  defended  his  omission  of  the  Sonnets  and  observed  that  "the  strongest 
Act  of  Parliament  that  could  be  framed  would  fail  to  compel  readers  into  their  service."  —  Ed.] 
*  This  flippant  insensibil'ty  was  publicly  reprehended  by  Mr.  Coleridge  in  a  course  of  Lec- 
tures upon  Poetry  given  by  him  at  the  Royal  Institution.  For  the  various  merits  of  thought  and 
language  in  Sh.'a  Sonnets,  see  Numbers  27,  29,  30,  32,  33,  54.  64,  66,  68,  73,  76,  86,  91,  92,  9Z, 
97,  98,  105,  107,  108,  109,  in,  113.  114.  116,  117,  129.  and  many  others. 


GENERAL  CRITICISM  3^ 

To  a  certain  extent,  we  must  admit  the  charge  of  circumlocution,  not  as 
applied  to  individual  sonnets,  but  to  the  subject  on  which  the  whole  series  is 
written.  The  obscurities  of  this  species  of  poem  have  almost  uniformly  arisen 
from  density  and  compression  of  style,  nor  are  the  compositions  of  Sh.  more 
than  usually  free  from  this  source  of  defect;  but  when  it  is  considered  that  our 
author  has  written  126  sonnets  for  the  sole  purpose  of  expressing  his  attach- 
ment to  his  patron,  it  must  necessarily  follow  that  a  subject  so  continually 
reiterated  would  display  no  small  share  of  circumlocution.  Great  ingenuity  has 
been  exhibited  by  the  poet  in  varying  his  phraseology  and  ideas;  but  no  effort 
could  possibly  obviate  the  monotony,  as  the  result  of  such  a  task. 

We  shall  not  condescend  to  a  refutation  of  [Steevens's]  fourth  epithet,  which, 
if  at  all  applicable  to  any  portion  of  Sh.'s  minor  poems,  can  alone  apply  to 
Sonnets  135  and  136,  which  are  a  continued  pun  upon  his  Christian  name,  a 
species  of  trifling  which  was  the  peculiar  vice  of  our  author's  age. 

That  an  attempt  to  exhaust  the  subject  of  friendship;  to  say  all  that  could  be 
collected  on  the  topic,  would  almost  certainly  lead,  in  the  days  of  Sh.,  to  ab- 
stractions too  subtile  and  metaphysical,  and  to  a  cast  of  diction  sometimes  too 
artificial  and  scholastic  for  modern  taste,  no  person  well  acquainted  with  the 
progress  of  our  literature  can  deny;  but  candour  will,  at  the  same  time,  admit 
that  the  expression  and  versification  of  his  sonnets  are  often  natural,  spirited, 
and  harmonious,  and  that  where  the  surface  has  been  rendered  hard  and  re- 
pulsive by  the  peculiarities  of  the  period  of  their  production,  we  have  only  to 
search  beneath,  in  order  to  discover  a  rich  ore  of  thought,  imagery,  and  senti-. 
ment.  .  .  . 

So  far  from  affectation  and  pedantry  being  the  general  characteristic  of 
these  pieces,  impartial  criticism  must  declare  that  more  frequent  examples  of 
simple,  clear,  and  nervous  diction  are  to  be  culled  from  them  than  can  be 
found  among  the  sonnets  of  any  of  his  contemporaries.  [Sonnet  71]  is  given, 
not  as  a  solitary  proof,  but  as  the  exemplar  of  a  numerous  class  of  Shake- 
spearean sonnets;  and  with  the  remark  that  neither  in  this  instance,  nor  in 
many  others,  is  there,  either  in  versification,  language,  or  thought,  the  small- 
est deviation  into  the  regions  of  affectation  or  conceit.  .  .  .  Simplicity  of  style 
and  tenderness  of  sentiment  form  the  sole  features  of  this  sonnet;  but  in  [Son- 
net 116,]  with  an  equal  chastity  of  diction,  are  combined  more  energy  and  dig- 
nity, together  with  the  infusion  of  some  noble  and  appropriate  imagery.  It 
must  also  be  added  that  the  flow  and  structure  of  the  verse  are  singularly 
pleasing.  ...  In  spirit,  however,  in  elegance,  in  the  skill  and  texture  of  its 
modulation,  and  beyond  all,  in  the  dignified  and  highly  poetical  close  of  the 
third  quatrain,  no  one  of  our  author's  sonnets  excels  the  29th. 

(Sh.  and  his  Times,  2:  75-82.) 

James  Boswell  [the  younger] :  Whoever  the  person  might  be  to  whom  the 
greater  part  of  these  sonnets  was  addressed,  it  seems  to  have  been  generally 
admitted  that  the  poet  speaks  in  his  own  person ;  and  some  of  his  critics  have 
attempted,  by  inferences  drawn  from  them,  to  eke  out  the  scanty  memorials 


382  APPENDIX 

which  have  come  down  to  us  of  the  incidents  of  his  life.  I  confess  myself  to 
be  as  skeptical  on  this  point  as  on  [Drake's  theory  respecting  Southampton].  . . . 
If  [the  Sonnets]  were  composed  before  Meres's  publication,  he  could  not  have 
been  at  a  more  advanced  age  than  thirty-four;  and  even  if  we  were  to  adopt  the 
theory  of  Dr.  Drake,  and  suppose  that  most  of  them  were  produced  at  a  sub- 
sequent period,  and  fix  upon  the  latest  possible  year,  1609,  yet  still  the  descrip- 
tion of  decrepitude  which  is  found  in  the  73d  Sonnet  could  scarcely,  without 
violent  exaggeration,  be  applicable  to  a  man  of  forty-five.  But  he  must  not 
only  have  been  old,  he  must  also  have  been  grossly  and  notoriously  profligate. 
To  say  nothing  of  the  criminal  connection  (for  criminal  in  a  high  degree  it 
would  certainly  have  been  in  a  married  man)  which  is  frequently  alluded  to  in 
those  Sonnets  which  are  said  to  be  addressed  by  him  in  his  own  character  to 
a  female,  we  find  him,  in  a  passage  already  quoted,  speaking  in  terms  of  shame 
and  remorse  of  his  "harmful  deeds,"  of  something  from  which  his  "name  had 
received  a  brand,"  and  of  "the  impression  which  vulgar  scandal  had  stamped 
upon  his  brow."  I  trust  it  will  not  require  much  argument  to  show  that  this 
picture  could  not  be  put  for  gentle  Sh.  We  may  lament  that  we  know  so  little 
of  his  history;  but  this,  at  least,  may  be  asserted  with  confidence,  that  at  no 
time  was  the  slightest  imputation  cast  upon  his  moral  character;  and  that,  in 
an  age  abounding,  as  Mr.  Steevens  has  observed,  with  illiberal  private  abuse  and 
peevish  satire,  the  concurring  testimony  of  his  contemporaries  will  confirm  the 
declaration  of  honest  Chettle,  that  "his  demeanour  was  no  less  civil,  than  he 
excellent  in  the  quality  he  professed."  Upon  the  whole,  I  am  satisfied  that 
these  compositions  had  neither  the  poet  himself  nor  any  individual  in  view, 
but  were  merely  the  effusions  of  his  fancy,  written  upon  various  topics  for  the 
amusement  of  a  private  circle. 

(Plays  and  Poems  of  Sh.,  1821,  20:  219-20.) 

Henry  Hallam:  No  one,  as  far  as  I  remember,  has  ever  doubted  their  gen- 
uineness; no  one  can  doubt  that  they  express  not  only  real  but  intense  emo- 
tions of  the  heart:  but  when  they  were  written,  who  was  the  W.  H.  quaintly 
called  their  begetter,  by  which  we  can  only  understand  the  cause  of  their 
being  written,  and  to  what  persons  or  circumstances  they  allude,  has  of  late 
years  been  the  subject  of  much  curiosity.  These  sonnets  were  long  over- 
looked :  Steevens  spoke  of  them  with  the  utmost  scorn,  as  productions  which 
no  one  could  read:  but  a  very  different  suffrage  is  generally  given  by  the  lovers 
of  poetry;  and  perhaps  there  is  now  a  tendency,  especially  among  young  men 
of  poetical  tempers,  to  exaggerate  the  beauties  of  these  remarkable  productions. 
They  rise,  indeed,  in  estimation,  as  we  attentively  read  and  reflect  upon  them; 
for  I  do  not  think  that  at  first  they  give  us  much  pleasure.  No  one  ever  entered 
more  fully  than  Sh.  into  the  character  of  this  species  of  poetry,  which  admits 
of  no  expletive  imagery,  no  merely  ornamental  line.  But,  though  each  sonnet 
has  generally  its  proper  unity,  the  sense  (I  do  not  mean  the  grammatical  con- 
struction) will  sometimes  be  found  to  spread  from  one  to  another,  indepen- 
dently of  that  repetition  of  the  leading  idea,  like  variations  of  an  air,  which  a 


GENERAL  CRITICISM  3S3 

series  of  them  frequently  exhibits,  and  on  account  of  which  they  have  lat- 
terly been  reckoned  by  some  rather  an  integral  poem  than  a  collection  of  son- 
nets. But  this  is  not  uncommon  among  the  Italians,  and  belongs,  in  fact,  to 
those  of  Petrarch  himself.  They  may  easily  be  resolved  into  several  series, 
according  to  their  subjects:  but,  when  read  attentively,  we  find  them  relate 
to  one  definite,  though  obscure,  period  of  the  poet's  life;  in  which  an  attach- 
ment to  some  female,  which  seems  to  have  touched  neither  his  heart  nor  his 
fancy  very  sensibly,  was  overpowered,  without  entirely  ceasing,  by  one  to 
a  friend;  and  this  last  is  of  such  an  enthusiastic  character,  and  so  extravagant 
in  the  phrases  that  the  author  uses,  as  to  have  thrown  an  unaccountable  mys- 
tery over  the  whole  work.  It  is  true  that  in  the  poetry  as  well  as  in  the  fictions 
of  early  ages  we  find  a  more  ardent  tone  of  affection  in  the  language  of  friend- 
ship than  has  since  been  usual;  and  yet  no  instance  has  been  adduced  of  such 
rapturous  devotedness,  such  an  idolatry  of  admiring  love,  as  one  of  the  greatest 
beings  whom  nature  ever  produced  in  the  human  form  pours  forth  to  some 
unknown  youth  in  the  majority  of  these  sonnets.  .  .  . 

If  we  seize  a  clew  which  innumerable  passages  give  us,  and  suppose  that 
they  allude  to  a  youth  of  high  rank  as  well  as  personal  beauty  and  accomplish- 
ment, in  whose  favor  and  intimacy,  according  to  the  base  prejudices  of  the 
world,  a  player  and  a  poet,  though  he  were  the  author  of  Macbeth,  might  be 
thought  honored,  something  of  the  strangeness,  as  it  appears  to  us,  of  Sh.'s 
humiliation  in  addressing  him  as  a  being  before  whose  feet  he  crouched,  whose 
frown  he  feared,  whose  injuries,  and  those  of  the  most  insulting  kind  —  the 
seduction  of  the  mistress  to  whom  we  have  alluded  —  he  felt  and  bewailed 
without  resenting;  something,  I  say,  of  the  strangeness  of  this  humiliation,  and 
at  best  it  is  but  little,  may  be  lightened,  and  in  a  certain  sense  rendered  in- 
telligible.  [I.e.,  by  the  Pembroke  theory.]  .  .  . 

Notwithstanding  the  frequent  beauties  of  these  sonnets,  the  pleasure  of 
their  perusal  is  greatly  diminished  by  these  circumstances;  and  it  is  impossible 
not  to  wish  that  Sh.  had  never  written  them.  There  is  a  weakness  and  folly 
in  all  excessive  and  misplaced  affection,  which  is  not  redeemed  by  the  touches 
of  nobler  sentiments  that  abound  in  this  long  series  of  sonnets.  But  there 
are  also  faults  of  a  merely  critical  nature.  The  obscurity  is  often  such  as  only 
conjecture  can  penetrate;  the  strain  of  tenderness  and  adoration  would  be  too 
monotonous,  were  it  less  unpleasing;  and  so  many  frigid  conceits  are  scattered 
around,  that  we  might  almost  fancy  the  poet  to  have  written  without  genuine 
emotion,  did  not  such  a  host  of  other  passages  attest  the  contrary. 

{Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  Europe,  Part  III,  chap.  5,  §§  48-50.) 

Charles  Knight:  The  publication  of  The  Passionate  Pilgrim  was  unques- 
tionably unauthorized  and  piratical.  The  publisher  got  all  he  could  which 
existed  in  manuscript;  and  he  took  two  poems  out  of  L.  L.  L.,  which  was 
printed  only  the  year  before.  In  1609  we  have  no  hesitation  in  believing  that 
the  same  process  was  repeated;  that  without  the  consent  of  the  writer  the  154 
Sonnets  —  some  forming  a  continuous  poem,  or  poems;  others  isolated,  in  the 


384  APPENDIX 

subjects  to  which  they  relate  and  the  persons  to  whom  they  were  addressed 
—  were  collected  together  without  any  key  to  their  arrangement,  and  given 
to  the  public.  .  .  .  Where  is  the  difficulty  of  imagining,  with  regard  to  poems 
of  which  each  separate  poem,  sonnet,  or  stanza,  is  either  a  "leading  idea," 
or  its  "variation,"  that,  picked  up  as  we  think  they  were  from  many  quarters, 
the  supposed  connection  must  be  in  many  respects  fanciful,  in  some  a  result 
of  chance,  mixing  what  the  poet  wrote  in  his  own  person,  either  in  moments  of 
elation  or  depression,  with  other  apparently  continuous  stanzas  that  painted 
an  imaginary  character,  indulging  in  all  the  warmth  of  an  exaggerated  friend- 
ship, in  the  complaints  of  an  abused  confidence,  in  the  pictures  of  an  unhallowed 
and  unhappy  love;  sometimes  speaking  with  the  real  earnestness  of  true  friend- 
ship and  a  modest  estimation  of  his  own  merits;  sometimes  employing  the 
language  of  an  extravagant  eulogy,  and  a  more  extravagant  estimation  of  the 
powers  of  the  man  who  was  writing  that  eulogy?  Suppose,  for  example,  that  in 
the  leisure  hours,  we  will  say,  of  William  Herbert  Earl  of  Pembroke,  and  Wil- 
liam Sh.,  the  poet  should  have  undertaken  to  address  to  the  youth  an  argu- 
ment why  he  should  marry.  Without  believing  the  Ear)  to  be  the  W.  H.  of  the 
Dedication,  we  know  that  he  was  a  friend  of  Sh.  There  is  nothing  in  the  first 
17  Sonnets  which  might  not  have  been  written  in  the  artificial  tone  of  the 
Italian  poetry,  in  the  working  out  of  this  scheme.  Suppose,  again,  that  in  other 
Sonnets  the  poet,  in  the  same  artificial  spirit,  complains  that  the  friend  has 
robbed  him  of  his  mistress,  and  avows  that  he  forgives  the  falsehood.  There 
is  nothing  in  all  this  which  might  not  have  been  written  essentially  as  a  work  of 
fiction, — received  as  a  work  of  fiction,  —  handed  about  amongst  "private 
friends"  without  the  slightest  apprehension  that  it  would  be  regarded  as  an 
exposition  of  the  private  relations  of  two  persons  separated  in  rank  as  they 
probably  were  in  their  habitual  intimacies,  —  of  very  different  ages,  —  the  one 
an  avowedly  profligate  boy,  the  other  a  matured  man.  But  this  supposition 
does  not  exclude  the  idea  that  the  poet  had  also,  at  various  times,  composed,  in 
the  same  measure,  other  poems,  truly  expressing  his  personal  feelings,  —  with 
nothing  inflated  in  their  tone,  perfectly  simple  and  natural,  offering  praise, 
expressing  love  to  his  actual  friends  (in  the  language  of  the  time  "lovers"), 
showing  regret  in  separation,  dreading  unkindness,  hopeful  of  continued 
affection.  These  are  also  circulated  amongst  "  private  friends."  Some"W.  H." 
collects  them  together,  ten,  twelve,  or  fifteen  years  after  they  have  been  writ- 
ten; and  a  publisher,  of  course,  is  found  to  give  to  the  world  any  produc- 
tions of  a  man  so  eminent  as  Sh.  ...  In  the  same  volume  with  these  Sonnets 
was  published  a  most  exquisite  narrative  poem,  A  Lover's  Complaint.  The 
form  of  it  entirely  prevents  any  attempt  to  consider  it  autobiographical.  The 
Sonnets,  on  the  contrary,  are  personal  in  their  form ;  but  it  is  not  therefore  to 
be  assumed  that  they  are  all  personal  in  their  relation  to  the  author. 

("  Illustration  of  the  Sonnets,"  Pictorial  Sh.,  vol.  6.) 

George  G.  Gervinus:  What  a  living  picture  would  our  poet  have  left 
behind  if,  when  prompted  by  his  love,  he  had  sung  the  union  of  soul  with  his 


GENERAL  CRITICISM  385 

sweet  youth  in  the  free  forms  suggested  by  the  moment  and  by  the  nature 
of  the  circumstances!  But  as  he  moulded  all  into  this  one  angular  form,  which 
admits  of  no  distinctness  and  which  spreads  a  dim  mist  over  each  tangible  mean- 
ing, we  can  readily  understand  how  it  was  that  for  so  long  a  time  the  bare 
actual  circumstances  could  be  misunderstood  or  overlooked.  This  one  draw- 
back is  followed  by  another,  arising  equally  naturally  from  the  style.  The  want 
of  reality  in  these  indistinct  poems  was  to  be  supplied  by  poetic  brilliancy;  the 
relation  between  the  means  and  the  object,  between  cause  and  effect,  dis- 
appears; far-fetched  thoughts,  strange  exaggerated  images,  and  hyperbolic 
phrases,  mislead  the  understanding;  profound  conceits  and  epigrammatic 
fancies,  sparkling  for  their  own  sake,  cast  the  subject  in  question  on  this  very 
account  into  the  shade.  This  intensely  poetic  language  does  not  prevent  even 
the  repetition  of  matter  and  expression  in  the  same  monotonous  form,  so  that 
the  tautology  is  constant.  And  as  in  Lucrece  the  poet  involuntarily  experienced 
surprise  at  the  peculiarities  of  that  conceit-style  of  the  Marinists,  here  also  in 
the  midst  of  his  work  he  acknowledges  (S.  76)  that  his  verse  is  "barren  of  new 
pride,  so  far  from  variation  or  quick  change,"  that  he  writes  "all  one,  ever 
the  same,"  and  keeps  his  "invention  in  a  noted  weed."  In  this  weed  it  is  not 
easy  to  recognize  the  true  and  real  purport;  tact  and  comparison  must  teach 
us  not  to  accept  it  all  too  much  as  simple  truth,  and  yet  also  not  unthinkingly 
to  lose  the  certain  meaning. 

We  are  of  opinion,  with  Cunningham  and  others,  that  the  sonnets  of  our 
poet,  aesthetically  considered,  have  been  overestimated.  With  respect  to  their 
psychological  tenor,  they  appear  to  us,  with  the  total  lack  of  all  other  sources 
for  the  history  of  Sh.'s  inner  life,  to  be  of  inestimable  value.  They  exhibit  the 
poet  to  us  just  in  the  most  interesting  period  of  his  mental  development,  when 
he  passed  from  dependent  to  independent  art,  from  foreign  to  national  taste, 
from  subserviency  and  distress  to  prosperity  and  happiness;  aye,  even  from 
loose  morality  to  inner  reformation.  And  in  addition  to  the  gigantic,  scarcely 
comprehensible  picture  of  his  mental  development  which  is  presented  to  us  in 
his  dramas  of  this  period,  we  here  receive  a  small  intelligible  painting  of  his 
inner  life,  which  brings  us  more  closely  to  the  poet  himself.  .  .  .  [The  friend- 
ship treated  of  in  the  Sonnets]  is  a  connection  in  itself  of  no  great  importance; 
nay,  in  the  way  in  which  it  is  poetically  expressed,  it  is  not  without  distortion. 
But  it  testifies  to  a  strength  of  feeling  and  passion  in  our  poet,  to  a  childlike 
nature  and  a  candid  mind,  to  a  simple  ingenuousness,  to  a  perfect  inability  to 
veil  his  thoughts  or  to  dissemble,  to  an  innate  capacity  for  allowing  circum- 
stances to  act  upon  his  mind  in  all  their  force  and  for  re-acting  upon  them  — 
in  a  word,  it  testifies  to  a  nature  as  truthful,  genuine,  and  straightforward 
as  we  imagine  the  poet  from  his  dramatic  works  to  have  possessed. 

{Shakespeare  Commentaries,  Bunnet  trans.,  pp.  451-52;  463.) 

Henry  N.  Hudson:  Great  effort  has  been  made  to  find  in  the  Sonnets 
some  deeper  or  other  meaning  than  meets  the  ear,  and  to  fix  upon  them, 
generally,  a  personal  and  autobiographical  character.      It  must  indeed  be 


386  APPENDIX 

owned  that  there  is  in  several  of  them  an  earnestness  of  tone,  and  in  some  few 
a  subdued  pathos,  which  strongly  argues  them  to  be  expressions  of  the  poet's 
real  feelings  respecting  himself,  his  condition,  and  the  person  or  persons  ad- 
dressed. This  is  particularly  the  case  with  a  series  of  ten,  beginning  with  the 
109th.  Something  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  23d,  25th,  and  26th,  where  we 
find  a  striking  resemblance  to  some  expressions  used  in  the  dedications  of 
the  V.  &  A.  and  of  the  Lucrece.  But,  as  to  the  greater  part  of  the  Sonnets, 
I  have  long  been  growing  more  and  more  convinced  that  they  were  intended 
mainly  as  exercises  of  fancy,  cast  in  a  form  of  personal  address,  and  perhaps 
mingling  an  element  of  personal  interest  or  allusion,  merely  as  a  matter  of 
art;  whatever  there  is  of  personal  in  them  being  thus  kept  subordinate  and  in- 
cidental to  poetical  beauty  and  effect.  ...  It  was  a  common  fashion  of  the 
time,  in  sonnet  writing,  for  authors  to  speak  in  an  ideal  or  imaginary  char- 
acter as  if  it  were  their  real  one,  and  to  attribute  to  themselves  certain  thoughts 
and  feelings,  merely  because  it  suited  their  purpose,  and  was  a  part  of  their 
art  as  poets,  so  to  do.  And  this,  I  make  no  doubt,  is  the  true  key  to  the  mys- 
tery which  has  puzzled  so  many  critics  in  the  Sonnets  of  Sh.  In  writing  son- 
nets, he  naturally  fell  into  the  current  style  of  the  age;  only,  by  how  much 
he  surpassed  the  others  in  dramatic  power,  by  so  much  was  he  better  able  to 
express  ideal  sentiments  as  if  they  were  his  own,  and  to  pass  out  of  himself 
into  the  characters  he  had  imagined  or  assumed.  .  .  . 

r  Touching  the  merits  of  the  Sonnets,  there  need  not  much  be  said.  Some  of 
them  would  hardly  do  credit  to  a  school-boy,  while  many  are  such  as  it  may  well 
be  held  an  honor  even  to  Sh.  to  have  written;  there  being  nothing  of  the  kind 
in  the  language  approaching  them,  except  a  few  of  Milton's  and  a  good  many 
of  Wordsworth's.  That  in  these  the  poet  should  have  sometimes  rendered  his 
work  excessively  frigid  with  the  euphuistic  conceits  and  affectations  of  the 
time,  is  far  less  wonderful  than  the  exquisite  beauty,  and  often  more  than 
beauty,  of  sentiment  and  imagery  that  distinguishes  a  large  portion  of  them. 
Many  might  be  pointed  out,  which,  with  perfect  clearness  and  compactness 
of  thought,  are  resplendent  with  the  highest  glories  of  imagination;  others  are 
replete  with  the  tenderest  pathos;  others,  again,  are  compact  of  graceful  fancy 
and  airy  elegance;  while  in  all  these  styles  there  are  specimens  perfectly  steeped 
in  the  melody  of  sounds  and  numbers,  as  if  the  thought  were  born  of  music, 
and  the  music  interfused  with  its  very  substance. 

{Works  of  Sh.,  Harvard  Edition,  20:  83-86.) 

Alexander  Dyce:  Repeated  perusals  of  the  Sonnets  have  well  nigh  con- 
vinced me  that  most  of  them  were  composed  in  an  assumed  character,  on  dif- 
ferent subjects,  and  at  different  times,  for  the  amusement,  if  not  at  the.  sug- 
gestion, of  the  author's  intimate  associates  (hence  described  by  Meres  as 
"his  sugred  Sonnets  among  his  private  friends"):  and  though  I  would  not  deny 
that  one  or  two  of  them  reflect  his  genuine  feelings  (e.g.,  S.  in),  I  contend  that 
allusions  scattered  through  the  whole  series  are  not  to  be  hastily  referred  to  the 
personal  circumstances  of  Sh.    In  the  general  excellence  of  these  Sonnets,  — 


GENERAL  CRITICISM  387 

in  their  depth  of  thought,  their  tenderness,  their  picturesqueness,  their  grace, 
their  harmony,  —  we  forget  their  occasional  conceits  and  quibbles:  and  indeed 
no  English  sonnets  are  worthy,  in  all  respects,  of  being  ranked  with  Sh.'s,  if  we 
except  the  few  by  Milton. 

(Life  of  Sh.,  Works,  3d  ed.,  1:  98-102.) 

William  Minto:  The  sonnets  addressed  to  a  friend  .  .  .  depart  very 
strikingly  from  the  sonnets  of  Sh.'s  predecessors.  He  ceases  to  reiterate 
Petrarch's  woes,  and  opens  up  a  new  vein  of  feeling.  Love  is  still  the  argument 
—  love's  fears  and  confidences,  crosses  and  triumphs  —  but  it  is  love  for  a 
different  object  under  different  conditions.  We  find  in  Sh.'s  sonnets  most  of 
the  commonplaces  of  the  course  of  true  love,  coldness  and  reconciliation,  inde- 
pendence and  devoted  submission,  but  they  are  transferred  to  the  course  of 
impassioned  friendship,  and  thereby  transfigured.  Are,  then,  these  moods  ot 
impassioned  friendship  real  or  feigned,  utterances  from  the  heart,  or  artificial 
creations  to  break  the  monotony  of  the  language  and  imagery  of  passionate 
admiration  between  the  sexes?  ...  It  is  bad  enough  to  defy  all  indications 
of  gender  and  declare  that  none  of  these  sonnets  were  addressed  to  a  young 
man:  it  is  perhaps  worse  to  say  that  some  are  and  some  are  not,  and  to  make  an 
arbitrary  selection,  taking  one's  own  feelings  as  the  exact  measure  of  the 
poet's.  Admiration  of  the  personal  beauty  of  his  friend  is  too  closely  woven  into 
the  sonnets  to  be  detached  in  this  way.  They  are  interpenetrated  with  it:  it 
is  expressed  as  warmly  in  sonnets  when  the  sex  happens  to  be  unequivocal, 
as  in  others  where  the  rashness  of  dogmatic  ingenuity  is  restrained  by  no  such 
accident. 

The  friendship  expressed  in  Sh.'s  sonnets  was  probably  no  less  real  than  the 
love  professed  for  their  mistresses  by  other  sonneteers.  Friendship  is  not  quite 
dead  even  in  these  degenerate  days.  There  are  still  people  alive  to  whom  the 
warmth  of  the  warmest  of  Sh.'s  sonnets  would  not  appear  an  exaggeration.  But 
there  would  seem  to  have  been  a  peculiar  exaltation  of  the  sentiment  of  friend- 
ship among  the  Elizabethan  poets.  The  titles  of  Edward's  plays  are  Damon 
and  -Pythias  and  Palamon  and  Arcite;  and  in  the  one  that  has  been  preserved 
friendship  is  extolled  above  all  other  blessings.  The  Paradise  of  Dainty  Devices 
is  full  of  "praises  of  friendship."  The  dramatists  did  not  hesitate  to  bring  it 
into  collision  with  love,  and  to  represent  it  as  rising  in  spme  cases  higher  than 
love  itself.  Marlowe  makes  Edward  II  desert  his  queen  for  the  sake  of  Gave- 
ston,  and  declares  that  he  will  rather  lose  his  kingdom  than  renounce  his 
favorite.  In  Lyly's  Endymion,  Eumenides  affirms  that  "  such  is  his  unspotted 
faith  to  Endymion,  that  whatsoever  seemeth  a  needle  to  prick  his  finger  is  a 
dagger  to  wound  his  heart";  and  when  it  is  in  his  power  to  obtain  whatever  he 
asks,  he  hesitates  between  the  recovery  of  his  friend  Endymion  and  the  pos- 
session of  his  mistress  Semele,  and  is  finally  decided  by  an  old  man  in  favour 
of  the  friend.  Sh.  himself  has  treated  the  problem  in  his  T.G.  V.  .  .  .  All  these 
that  I  have  mentioned,  with  the  exception  of  Edward  and  Gaveston,  were  cases 
of  friendship  between  equals.   Bacon  laid  down  that  friendship  could  not  exist 


388  APPENDIX 

between  equals;  and  the  Elizabethans  were  familiar  with  the  often  quoted 
friendships  between  Alexander  and  Hephsestion,  Hercules  and  Hylas,  Achilles 
and  Patroclus,  Socrates  and  Alcibiades,  in  which  the  sentiment  was  enhanced 
by  the  charms  of  strength  on  the  one  hand,  and  youth  and  beauty  on  the  other. 
It  is  not  impossible  that  the  influence  of  the  maiden  queen  had  something  to  do 
with  the  laudation  of  friendship  in  the  Elizabethan  age;  and  the  representation 
of  women's  parts  on  the  stage  by  boys  may  have  fostered  to  an  unusual  degree 
the  sentimental  admiration  of  beautiful  youths.  This  last  influence  could 
hardly  but  have  affected  Sh.,  seeing  that  he  acted  up  to  boys  in  that  char- 
acter, and  that  they  must  occasionally  have  crossed  his  mind  with  their  "small 
pipes"  and  "smooth  and  rubious"  lips  when  he  was  composing  praises  of  the 
beauty  that  they  represented.  And  it  is  difficult  to  see  what  can  have  been 
meant  by  the  expression  Socratem  ingenio  —  a  Socrates  in  disposition  —  in 
Sh.'s  epitaph,  if  it  does  not  point  to  his  sentiment  for  beautiful  young  men. 

{Characteristics  of  English  Poets,  pp.  213-16.) 

Frederick  J.  Furnivall:  Were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  many  critics  really 
deserving  the  name  of  Sh.  students,  and  not  Sh.  fools,  have  held  the  Sonnets  to 
be  merely  dramatic,  I  could  not  have  conceived  that  poems  so  intensely  and 
evidently  autobiographic  and  self-revealing,  poems  so  one  with  the  spirit 
and  inner  meaning  of  Sh.'s  growth  and  life,  could  ever  have  been  conceived 
to  be  other  than  what  they  are,  the  records  of  his  own  loves  and  fears.  And  I 
believe  that  if  the  acceptance  of  them  as  such  had  not  involved  the  conse- 
quence of  Sh.'s  intrigue  with  a  married  woman,  all  readers  would  have  taken 
the  Sonnets  as  speaking  of  Sh.'s  own  life.  But  his  admirers  are  so  anxious  to 
remove  every  stain  from  him,  that  they  contend  for  a  non-natural  interpreta- 
tion of  his  poems.  They  forget  the  difference  in  opinion  between  Elizabethan 
and  Victorian  times  as  to  those  sweet  sins  of  the  flesh,  where  what  is  said  to  be 
stolen  is  so  willingly  given.  They  forget  the  cuckoo  cry  rising  from  nearly  all 
Elizabethan  literature,  and  that  the  intimacy  now  thought  criminal  was  then 
in  certain  circles  nearly  as  common  as  handshaking  is  with  us.  They  forget 
Sh.'s  impulsive  nature,  and  his  long  absence  from  his  home.  They  will  not  face 
the  probabilities  of  the  case,  or  recollect  that  David  was  still  God's  friend 
though  Bathsheba  lived.  The  Sonnets  are,  in  one  sense,  Sh.'s  Psalms.  Spiritual 
struggles  underlie  both  poets'  work.  For  myself,  I'd  accept  any  number  of 
"slips  in  sensual  mire"  on  Sh.'s  part,  to  have  the  "bursts  of  (loving)  heart" 
given  us  in  the  Sonnets. 

The  true  motto  for  the  first  group  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets  is  to  be  seen  in  David's 
words,  "I  am  distrest  for  thee,  my  brother  Jonathan;  very  pleasant  hast  thou 
been  unto  me.  Thy  love  to  me  was  wonderful,  passing  the  love  of  woman." 
We  have  had  them  reproduced  for  us  Victorians,  without  their  stain  of  sin  and 
shame,  in  Mr.  Tennyson's  In  Memoriam.  We  have  had  them  again  to  some 
extent  in  Mrs.  Browning's  glorious  sonnets  to  her  husband,  with  their  iter- 
ance, "Say  over  again,  and  yet  once  over  again,  that  thou  dost  love  me."  We 
may  look  upon  the  Sonnets  as  a  piece  of  music,  or  as  Sh.'s  Pathetic  Sonata,  each 


GENERAL  CRITICISM  389 

melody  introduced,  dropped  again,  brought  in  again  with  variations,  but  one 
full  strain  of  undying  love  and  friendship  through  the  whole.  Why  could  Sh. 
say  so  beautifully  for  Antonio  of  The  Merchant,  "All  debts  are  cleared  between 
you  and  I,  if  I  might  but  see  you  at  my  death:  notwithstanding,  use  your 
pleasure"?  Why  did  he  make  Viola  declare  — 

And  I  most  jocund,  apt,  and  willingly, 

To  do  you  rest,  a  thousand  deaths  would  die? 

Why  did  he  paint  Helena  alone,  saying  — 

'T  was  pretty  though  a  plague 
To  see  him  every  hour;  to  sit  and  draw 
His  arched  brows,  his  hawking  eyes,  his  curls, 
In  our  heart's  table,  —  heart  too  capable 
Of  every  line  and  trick  of  his  sweet  favour! 
But  now  he 's  gone,  and  my  idolatrous  fancy 
Must  sanctify  his  relics. 

Because  he  himself  was  Helena,  Antonio.  A  witchcraft  drew  him  to  a  "boy," 
a  youth  to  whom  he  gave  his 

Love  without  pretension  or  restraint, 
All  his  in  dedication. 

Sh.  towards  him  was  as  Viola  towards  the  Duke.  He  went 

After  him  I  love  more  than  I  love  these  eyes, 
More  than  my  life. 

In  the  Sonnets  we  have  the  gentle  Will,  the  melancholy  mild-eyed  man,  of  the 
Droeshout  portrait.  Sh.'s  tender,  sensitive,  refined  nature  is  seen  clearly  here, 
but  through  a  glass  darkly  in  the  plays.  .  .  . 

Whatever  their  date,  I  wish  to  say  with  all  the  emphasis  I  can,  that  in  my 
belief  no  one  can  understand  Sh.  who  does  not  hold  that  his  Sonnets  are  auto- 
biographical, and  that  they  explain  the  depths  of  the  soul  of  the  Sh.  who  wrote 
the  plays.  I  know  that  Mr.  Browning  is  against  this  view,  and  holds  that  if 
Sh.  did  "unlock  his  heart  in  his  Sonnets,"  then  "the  less  Sh.  he."  But  I'd 
rather  take,  on  this  question,  the  witness  of  the  greatest  poetess  of  our  Vic- 
torian —  nay  of  all  time  yet,  and  ask  whether  she  was  the  less,  or  the  greater 
and  truer,  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning,  or  poet,  because  she  unlocked  her 
heart  in  her  sonnets,  or  because  she  "went  forward  and  confessed  to  her  critics 
that  her  poems  had  her  heart  and  life  in  them,  they  were  not  empty  shells!" 

(Introduction  to  the  Leopold  Shakspere,  §  n.) 

Algernon  C.  Swinburne:  A  name  so  illustrious  has  recently  been  added 
to  the  list  of  theirs  who  dispute  or  deny  the  supposition  that  even  in  his  sonnets 
the  most  inscrutably  impersonal  of  poets  did  actually  "  unlock  his  heart,"  that  it 
might  seem  negligent  if  not  insolent  to  take  no  account  of  such  antagonism 
to  the  opinion  which  to  me  seems  so  clearly  just  and  right.  Mr.  Browning,  per- 


390  APPENDIX 

haps  in  all  points  the  furthest  removed  from  Wordsworth  of  all  poets  in  this 
century,  cites  with  something  of  a  sneer  the  well-known  expression  of  Words- 
worth which  gives  us  his  opinion  to  that  effect;  and,  as  if  scornfully  rejecting 
a  supposed  suggestion  that  he  also  should  do  likewise,  retorts  in  a  tone  of  as- 
sured defiance  — 

Did  Shakespeare?   If  so,  the  less  Shakespeare  he! 

No,  I  must  venture  to  reply;  no  whit  the  less  like  Shakespeare,  but  un- 
doubtedly the  less  like  Browning.  .  .  .  Even  in  default  of  his  personal  and 
articulate  evidence  to  that  effect,'  we  should  have  guessed  that  Mr.  Browning 
was  in  no  wise  wont  to  unlock  his  heart  with  any  metrical  key  to  any  direct 
purpose  —  except,  as  it  might  be,  "for  once,"  when  exchanging,  with  such 
happy  effect,  a  "bronze"  for  a  "silver"  instrument.  But  Shakespeare,  not 
being  simply  "a  great  dramatic  poet"  like  Browning  or  like  Landor,  but  a 
great  dramatist  in  the  most  absolute  and  differential  sense  of  the  phrase,  might 
(it  seems  to  me)  be  the  likelier  and  the  more  desirous,  under  certain  circum- 
stances which  for  us  must  be  all  uncertain,  to  relieve  and  disburden  his  mind 
—  to  unload  his  heart  rather  than  to  unlock  it  —  in  short  personal  poems  of 
a  kind  as  alien  from  the  special  genius  or  spiritual  instinct  of  Mr.  Browning 
as  is  the  utterly  impersonal  gift  of  impersonation,  not  in  one  form  at  a  time 
but  in  many  forms  at  once,  by  dint  of  more  than  dramatic  renunciation  or 
annihilation  of  himself,  which  makes  him  the  greatest  of  all  dramatists  as 
surely  as  he  is  not  the  greatest  of  all  dramatic  poets.* 

("  Short  Notes  on  English  Poets  ";  Miscellanies,  pp.  12-13.) 

Edward  Dowden:  The  student  of  Sh.  is  drawn  to  the  Sonnets  not  alone 
by  their  ardour  and  depth  of  feeling,  their  fertility  and  condensation  of  thought, 
their  exquisite  felicities  of  phrase,  and  their  frequent  beauty  of  rhythmical 
movement,  but  in  af  peculiar  degree  by  the  possibility  that  here,  if  nowhere 
else,  the  greatest  of  English  poets  may  —  as  Wordsworth  puts  it  —  have 
"unlocked  his  heart."  f  It  were  strange  if  his'  silence,  deep  as  that  of  the  secrets 

*  [In  his  Study  of  Sh.  Swinburne  avoids  the  discussion  of  the  Sonnets,  with  the  explanation 
that  upon  them  "such  a  preposterous  pyramid  of  presumptuous  commentary  has  long  since 
been  reared  by  the  Cimmerian  speculation  and  Boeotian  'brain-sweat'  of  sciolists  and  scholi- 
asts, that  no  modest  man  will  hope  and  no  wise  man  will  desire  to  add  to  the  structure  or  sub- 
tract from  it  one  single  brick  of  proof  or  disproof,  theorem  or  theory."  —  Ed.] 

t  Poets  differ  in  the  interpretation  of  the  Sonnets  as  widely  as  critics. 

'With  this  same  key 
Shakespeare  unlocked  his  heart'  once  more! 
Did  Shakespeare?   If  so,  the  less  Shakespeare  he! 

So,  Mr.  Browning:  to  whom  replies  Mr.  Swinburne,  "No  whit  the  less  like  Shakespeare,  but 
undoubtedly  the  less  like  Browning."  Some  of  Shelley's  feeling  with  reference  to  the  Sonnets 
may  be  guessed  from  certain  lines  to  be  found  among  the  "Studies  for  Epipsychidio^  and 
Cancelled  Passages"  (Poetical  Works,  ed.  Forman,  2:  392-93)1  to  which  my  attention  has  been 
called  by  Mr.  E.  W.  Gosse: 

If  any  should  be  curious  to  discover 

Whether  to  you  I  am  a  friend  or  lover, 

Let  them  read  Shakespeare's  Sonnets,  taking  thence 

A  whetstone  for  their  dull  intelligence 

That  tears  and  will  not  cut,  or  let  them  guess 

How  Diotima,  the  wise  prophetess. 


GENERAL  CRITICISM  391 

of  Nature,  never  once  knew  interruption.  The  moment,  however,  we  regard 
the  Sonnets  as  autobiographical,  we  find  ourselves  in  the  presence  of  doubts 
and  difficulties,  exaggerated,  it  is  true,  by  many  writers,  yet  certainly  real. 

If  we  must  escape  from  them,  the  simplest  mode  is  to  assume  that  the  Son- 
nets are  "the  free  outcome  of  a  poetic  imagination"  (Delius).  It  is  an  in- 
genious suggestion  of  Delius  that  certain  groups  may  be  offsets  from  other 
poetical  works  of  Sh.  Those  urging  a  beautiful  youth  to  perpetuate  his  beauty 
in  offspring  may  be  a  derivative  from  V.  &  A.;  those  declaring  love  for  a 
dark-complexioned  woman  may  rehandle  the  theme  set  forth  in  Berowne's 
passion  for  the  dark  Rosaline  of  L.  L.  L.\  those  which  tell  of  a  mistress  re- 
signed to  a  friend  may  be  a  non-dramatic  treatment  of  the  theme  of  love 
and  friendship  presented  in  the  later  scenes  of  the  T.  G.  V.  Perhaps  a  few 
sonnets,  as  1 10-1 1 1 ,  refer  to  circumstances  of  Sh.'s  life  (Dyce).  The  main  body 
of  these  poems  may  still  be  regarded  as  mere  exercises  of  the  fancy. 

Such  an  explanation  of  the  Sonnets  has  the  merit  of  simplicity;  it  unties  no 
knots  but  cuts  all  at  a  blow.  If  the  collection  consists  of  disconnected  exer- 
cises of  the  fancy,  we  need  not  try  to  reconcile  discrepancies,  nor  shape  a  story, 
not  ascertain  a  chronology,  nor  identify  persons.  And  what  indeed  was  a 
sonneteer's  passion  but  a  painted  fire?  What  was  the  form  of  verse  but  an 
exotic  curiously  trained  and  tended,  in  which  an  artificial  sentiment  imported 
from  Italy  gave  perfume  and  colour  to  the  flower? 

And  yet,  in  this  as  in  other  forms,  the  poetry  of  the  time,  which  possesses 
an  enduring  vitality,  was  not  commonly  caught  out  of  the  air,  but  —  however 
large  the  conventional  element  in  it  may  have  been  —  was  born  of  the  union 
of  heart  and  imagination:  in  it  real  feelings  and  real  experience,  submitting  to 
the  poetical  fashions  of  the  day,  were  raised  to  an  ideal  expression.  Spenser 
wooed  and  wedded  the  Elizabeth  of  his  Amoretti.  The  Astrophel  &  Stella  tells 
of  a  veritable  tragedy,  fatal  perhaps  to  two  bright  lives  and  passionate  hearts. 
And  what  poems  of  Drummond  do  we  remember  as  we  remember  those  which 
record  how  he  loved  and  lamented  Mary  Cunningham? 

.  .  .  That  [Sh.]  should  have  given  admiration  and  love  without  measure  to  a 
youth  high  born,  brilliant,  accomplished,  who  singled  out  the  player  for  pe- 
culiar favour,  will  seem  wonderful  only  to  those  who  keep  a  constant  guard  upon 
their  affections,  and  to  those  who  have  no  need  to  keep  a  guard  at  all.  In  the 
Renascence  epoch,  among  natural  products  of  a  time  when  life  ran  swift  and 
free,  touching  with  its  current  high  and  difficult  places,  the  ardent  friendship 
of  man  with  man  was  one.  To  elevate  it  above  mere  personal  regard  a  kind  of 
Neo-Platonism  was  at  hand,  which  represented  Beauty  and  Love  incarnated 
in  a  human  creature  as  earthly  vicegerents  of  the  Divinity.  "  It  was  then  not 
uncommon,"  observes  the  sober  Dyce,  "for  one  man  to  write  verses  to  another 
in  a  strain  of  such  tender  affection  as  fully  warrants  us  in  terming  them  ama- 

Instructed  the  instructor,  and  why  he 
Rebuked  the  infant  spirit  of  melody 
On  Agathon's  sweet  lips,  which  as  he  spoke 
Was  as  the  lovely  star  when  morn  has  broke 
The  roof  of  darkness,  in  the  golden  dawn. 
Half -hidden  and  yet  beautiful. 


392  APPENDIX 

tory."  Montaigne,  not  prone  to  take  up  extreme  positions,  writes  of  his  dead 
Estienne  de  la  Boetie  with  passionate  tenderness  which  will  not  hear  of  modera- 
tion. The  haughtiest  spirit  of  Italy,  Michael  Angelo,  does  homage  to  the  worth 
and  beauty  of  young  Tommaso  Cavalieri  in  such  words  as  these: 

Heavenward  your  spirit  stirreth  me  to  strain; 
E'en  as  you  will  I  blush  and  blanch  again, 
Freeze  in  the  sun,  burn  'neath  a  frosty  sky, 
Your  will  includes  and  is  the  lord  of  mine. 

The  learned  Languet  writes  to  young  Philip  Sidney:  "Your  portrait  I  kept 
with  me  some  hours  to  feast  my  eyes  on  it,  but  my  appetite  was  rather  increased 
than  diminished  by  the  sight."  And  Sidney  to  his  guardian  friend:  "The  chief 
object  of  my  life,  next  to  the  everlasting  blessedness  of  heaven,  will  always  be 
the  enjoyment  of  true  friendship,  and  there  you  shall  have  the  chief  est  place." 
...  In  Allot's  Wit's  Commonwealth  (1598)  we  read:  "The  love  of  men  to  women 
is  a  thing  common  and  of  course,  but  the  friendship  of  man  to  man  infinite 
and  immortal."  (I  find  this  quotation  in  Elze's  William  Shakespeare,  p.  497.) 
"Some,"  said  Jeremy  Taylor,  "live  under  the  line,  and  the  beams  of  friendship 
in  that  position  are  imminent  and  perpendicular.  Some  have  only  a  dark  day 
and  a  long  night  from  him  [the  Sun],  snows  and  white  cattle,  a  miserable  life 
and  a  perpetual  harvest  of  Catarrhes  and  Consumptions,  apoplexies  and  dead 
palsies:  but  some  have  splendid  fires  and  aromatic  spices,  rich  wines  and  well- 
digested  fruits,  great  wit  and  great  courage,  because  they  dwell  in  his  eye 
and  look  in  his  face  and  are  the  Courtiers  of  the  Sun,  and  wait  upon  him  in 
his  chambers  of  the  East.  Just  so  it  is  in  friendship."  Was  Sh.  less  a  courtier 
of  the  sun  than  Languet  or  Michael  Angelo?  .  .  . 

Sh.  of  the  Sonnets  is  not  the  Sh.  serenely  victorious,  infinitely  charitable, 
wise  with  all  wisdom  of  the  intellect  and  the  heart,  whom  we  know  through 
the  Tempest  and  Henry  VIII.  He  is  the  Sh.  of  V.  &  A.  and  R.  &  J.,  on  his 
way  to  acquire  some  of  the  dark  experience  of  M.  for  M.,  and  the  bitter  learn- 
ing of  T.  &  C.  Sh.'s  writings  assure  us  that  in  the  main  his  eye  was  fixed  on 
the  true  ends  of  life,  but  they  do  not  lead  us  to  believe  that  he  was  inacces- 
sible to  temptations  of  the  senses,  the  heart,  and  the  imagination.  We  can 
only  guess  the  frailty  that  accompanied  such  strength,  the  risks  that  attended 
such  high  powers;  immense  demands  on  life,  vast  ardours,  and  then  the  void 
hour,  the  deep  dejection.  There  appears  to  have  been  a  time  in  his  life  when 
the  springs  of  faith  and  hope  had  almost  ceased  to  flow;  and  he  recovered  these, 
not  by  flying  from  reality  and  life,  but  by  driving  his  shafts  deeper  towards 
the  centre  of  things.  So  Ulysses  was  transformed  into  Prospero,  worldly  wis- 
dom into  spiritual  insight.  Such  ideal  purity  as  Milton's  was  not  possessed 
nor  sought  by  Sh.  Among  these  Sonnets,  one  or  two  might  be  spoken  by 
Mercutio,  when  his  wit  of  cheveril  was  stretched  to  an  ell  broad.  To  compen- 
sate —  Sh.  knew  men  and  women  a  good  deal  better  than  did  Milton,  and 
probably  no  patches  in  his  life  are  quite  as  unprofitably  ugly  as  some  which 
disfigured  the  life  of  the  great  idealist.    His  daughter  could  love  and  honour 


GENERAL  CRITICISM  393 

Sh.'s  memory.  Lamentable  it  is,  if  he  was  taken  in  the  toils,  but  at  least  we 
know  that  he  escaped  all  toils  before  the  end.  May  we  dare  to  conjecture 
that  Cleopatra,  queen  and  courtesan,  black  from  "Phoebus'  amorous  pinches," 
a  "lass  unparalleled,"  has  some  kinship  through  the  imagination  with  the 
dark  lady  of  the  virginal?  "Would  I  had  never  seen  her,"  sighs  out  Antony; 
and  the  shrewd  onlooker  Enobarbus  replies,  "O  sir,  you  had  then  left  unseen 
a  wonderful  piece  of  work,  which  not  to  have  been  blest  withal  would  have  dis- 
credited your  travel."  .  .  . 

If  Sh.  "unlocked  his  heart"  in  these  Sonnets,  what  do  we  learn  from  them 
of  that  great  heart?  I  cannot  answer  otherwise  than  in  words  of  my  own 
formerly  written.  "In  the  Sonnets  we  recognize  three  things:  that  Sh.  was 
capable  of  measureless  personal  devotion;  that  he  was  tenderly  sensitive, 
sensitive  above  all  to  every  diminution  or  alteration  of  that  love  his  heart  so 
eagerly  craved;  and  that,  when  wronged,  although  he  suffered  anguish,  he 
transcended  his  private  injury,  and  learned  to  forgive.  .  .  .  The  errors  of  his 
heart  originated  in  his  sensitiveness,  in  his  imagination  (not  at  first  inured  to 
the  hardness  of  fidelity  to  the  fact),  in  his  quick  consciousness  of  existence,  and 
in  the  self-abandoning  devotion  of  his  heart." 

(Sonnets  of  Sh.,  Introduction,  pp.  4-12;  34.) 

J.  O.  Halliwell-Phillipps:  The  words  of  Meres,  and  the  insignificant 
result  of  Jaggard's  efforts,  when  viewed  in  connection  with  the  nature  of  these 
strange  poems,  lead  to  the  inference  that  some  of  them  were  written  in  clus- 
ters, and  others  as  separate  exercises,  either  being  contributions  made  by  their 
writer  to  the  albums  of  his  friends,  probably  no  two  of  the  latter  being  favoured 
with  identical  compositions.  There  was  no  tradition  adverse  to  a  belief  in  their 
fragmentary  character  in  the  generation  immediately  following  the  author's 
death,  as  may  be  gathered  from  the  arrangement  found  in  Benson's  edition  of 
1640;  and  this  concludes  the  little  real  evidence  on  the  subject  that  has  de- 
scended to  us.  It  was  reserved  for  the  students  of  the  present  century,  who 
have  ascertained  so  much  respecting  Sh.  that  was  unsuspected  by  his  own 
friends  and  contemporaries,  to  discover  that  his  innermost  earnest  thoughts, 
his  mental  conflicts,  and  so  on,  are  revealed  in  what  would  then  be  the  most 
powerful  lyrics  yet  given  to  the  world.  But  the  victim  of  spiritual  emotions 
that  involve  criminatory  reflections  does  not  usually  protrude  them  volun- 
tarily on  the  consideration  of  society;  and,  if  the  personal  theory  be  accepted, 
we  must  concede  the  possibility  of  our  national  dramatist  gratuitously  con- 
fessing his  sins  and  revealing  those  of  others,  proclaiming  his  disgrace  and 
avowing  his  repentance,  in  poetical  circulars  distributed  by  the  delinquent 
himself  amongst  his  most  intimate  friends. 

There  are  no  external  testimonies  of  any  description  in  favour  of  a  personal 
application  of  the  Sonnets,  while  there  are  abundant  difficulties  arising  from 
the  reception  of  such  a  theory.  ...  It  will  be  observed  that  all  the  hypotheses 
which  aim  at  a  complete  biographical  exposition  of  the  Sonnets  necessitate 
the  acceptance  of  interpretations  that  are  too  subtle  for  dispassionate  rea- 


394  APPENDIX 

soners.  Even  in  the  few  instances  where  there  is  a  reasonable  possibility  that 
Sh.  was  thinking  of  living  individuals,  as  when  he  refers  to  an  unknown  poeti- 
cal rival  or  quibbles  on  his  own  Christian  name,  scarcely  any,  if  any,  light  is 
thrown  on  his  personal  feelings  or  character. 

{Outlines  of  the  Life  of  Sh.,  9th  ed.,  1:  173-75.) 

Mark  Pattison:  The  pre-eminent  series  of  poems  known  as  Sh.'s  sonnets 
mock  at  criticism,  and  I  can  but  echo  the  despair  of  .  .  .  Ashcroft  Noble,  and 
say  that  the  rank  they  hold  is  such  that  to  ignore  them  is  impossible,  and  to 
treat  them  adequately  not  less  so.  Here  I  have  only  to  speak  of  them  as  to 
form.  They  only  present  an  occasional  approach  to  perfection  of  type.  First: 
each  sonnet  does  not  stand  independently,  but  relies  upon  that  which  goes 
before,  or  on  that  which  follows  it,  to  complete  the  impression.  The  sonnet  is 
thus  robbed  of  its  individuality,  and  becomes  a  stanza  in  a  poem.  To  borrow  an 
illustration  from  architecture,  the  sonnet  becomes  a  house  in  a  row,  instead  of 
a  palace  satisfying  the  eye  from  whichever  side  it  is  viewed.  Secondly:  in  the 
struggle  of  meaning  and  melody  with  the  unmalleable  metal  of  our  language, 
Sh.'s  sonnets  show  us  the  poet  frequently  succumbing.  In  a  small  number  out 
of  the  whole  154  does  the  poet  distinctly  emerge  as  master  of  his  instrument, 
and  only  in  a  very  few  instances  does  he  achieve  an  uncontested  triumph  over 
the  obstinate  and  unpliant  material.  When  he  does  so,  the  result  is  a  poem, 
notable,  distinguished,  stamped  with  an  individuality  which  cannot  be  mis- 
taken. It  was  an  unfortunate  choice  of  vehicle  when  Sh.  selected  the  sonnet 
form.  It  was  a  form  in  which  his  superabounding  force  strangled  itself.  He  is 
baffled  by  the  language  just  in  proportion  to  the  power  of  his  thought.  Sh. 
required  freedom,  and  when  free,  he  spoke  English  such  as  no  other  English- 
man ever  had  skill  to  utter.  But  the  sonnet's  narrow  bounds  demand  con- 
densation. Now  the  formal  requirement  of  terse  expression  is  a  boon  to  watery 
or  diffuse  thinkers.  The  compression  of  fourteen  lines  effects  the  expulsion  of 
superfluities,  and  lends  the  external  support  of  stays  to  a  weakly  frame.  Quite 
opposite  is  the  effect  of  restricted  space  upon  a  teeming  fancy  and  a  robust 
intellect.  In  him  force  is  concentrated  to  begin  with.  In  his  endeavour  after 
still  further  compression  of  energy,  he  becomes  laboured  instead  of  pithy, 
obscure  instead  of  nervous. 

As  in  the  drama  Sh.  ignored  the  classical  unities,  so  he  will  know  nothing  of 
the  established  laws  of  the  sonnet.  It  has  been  said  that  he  "disclaimed  the 
smaller  economies."  May  it  not  be  that  he  did  not  know  of  them?  What  he 
knew  of,  that  he  followed.  As  in  the  substance  of  his  verse  he  fell  in  with  the 
reigning  fashion  of  ingenious  distortions,  so  in  the  form  of  the  sonnet  he 
adopted  the  metrical  arrangement  of  Daniel,  without  any  suspicion  that  there 
existed  a  better  type.*  Sh.'s  sonnets,  like  Daniel's,  contain  seven  rhymes. 
Their  analysis  is  not  into  an  octave  and  a  sestet,  but  into  three  verses  of  four 
lines  each,  closed  by  a  couplet.    And  such  has  been  the  fame  of  the  series  of 

*  [This  extraordinary  suggestion  is  the  more  remarkable  because  Pattison  had  just  mentioned 
Sidney  as  among  Sh.'s  "models."  —  Ed.] 


GENERAL  CRITICISM  395 

Shakespearean  poems,  that  English  historians  of  poetry  have  to  recognize  this 
form,  and  to  create  a  new  species  to  cover  it.  .  .  .  Milton's  distinction  in  the 
history  of  the  sonnet  is  that,  not  overawed  by  the  great  name  of  Sh.,  he  eman- 
cipated this  form  of  poem  from  the  two  vices  which  depraved  the  Elizabethan 
sonnet  —  from  the  vice  of  misplaced  wit  in  substance,  and  of  misplaced  rhyme 
in  form.  He  recognized  that  the  sonnet  belonged  to  the  poetry  of  feeling,  and 
not  to  the  poetry  of  ingenuity.  And  he  saw  that  the  perfection  of  metrical 
construction  was  not  reached  by  tacking  together  three  four-line  verses  rounded 
by  a  couplet  at  the  end. 

(The  Sonnets  of  John  Milton,  Introduction,  pp.  40-46.) 

A.  Wilson  Verity:  What  primarily  do  we  look  for  in  a  poem,  more  espe- 
cially in  a  poem  of  great  scope?  I  suppose  there  are  two  things  of  essential  value: 
perfect  harmony  of  expression  and  interest  of  subject.  The  poem  should  bear 
criticism  from  the  standpoint  of  the  artist  and  of  the  moralist:  it  should  be 
flawless  in  manner  and  of  vital  significance  in  matter.  What  is  said  —  the  way 
it  is  said :  these  are  two  cardinal  points,  and  of  these  twin  essentials  the  latter, . 
to  my  mind,  is  the  greater.  And  if  we  ask  what  should  regulate  the  expression 
of  a  poem,  the  answer  is  simple:  above  all  things  we  require  of  the  singer  a  true 
and  perfect  sense  of  melody.  .  .  .  Now  from  either  standpoint  —  from  that  of 
the  artist,  from  that  of  the  critic  of  life  —  whether  we  look  to  their  manner 
or  their  matter  —  the  Sonnets  of  Sh.  are  great  with  greatness  unmistakable. 
It  is  not  that  we  come  across  an  exquisite  piece  of  verbal  beauty  from  time  to 
time;  every  poem  reaches  a  standard  unattainable  save  by  the  true  singer; 
from  first  to  last  it  is  the 

Adventurous  song 
That  with  no  middle  flight  intends  to  soar. 

The  power  of  the  language  is  taxed  to  its  utmost;  it  can  do  no  more;  its  merit 
as  a  means  of  poetic  expression,  as  an  instrument  for  the  expression  of  a  thousand 
varying  shades  of  emotion,  must  stand  or  fall  by  such  passages  as  these:  [40, 
1-4;  116,  1-10;  71,  5-8;  102,  5-12;  107,  1-3;  86,  1-4.]  In  lines  such  as  these  we 
have  the  last  word  in  felicity  of  expression:  a  noble  instrument  sends  forth  its 
noblest  notes  in  the  master's  hands,  and  if  we  ask  for  more  piercing,  more  per- 
fect melody  of  words,  we  must  look  to  some  other  tongue;  English  can  give  us 
nothing  greater  than  this.  And  such  passages  are  not  the  exception:  we  have 
picked  them  almost  at  random.  Open  the  Sonnets  where  we  will,  we  find  the 
same  unerring  sense  of  what  makes  for  the  music  that,  heard  once,  never  dies 
from  our  recollection. 

(Introduction  to  the  Sonnets,  Henry  Irving  Sh.,  8:  404-05.) 

Barrett  Wendell:  Even  if  the  Sonnets  be  self-revealing,  their  self-revela- 
tion takes  a  very  deliberate  shape.  Nothing  could  be  much  further  from  a  spon- 
taneous outburst  than  these  Shaksperean  stanzas,  whose  form  is  among  the 
most  highly  studied  in  our  literature.    During  the  Elizabethan  period  there 


396  APPENDIX 

were  at  least  three  well-defined  varieties  of  sonnet:  the  legitimate  Italian,  or 
Petrarchan,  generally  imitated  by  Wyatt,  Surrey,  and  Sidney;  the  Spenserian, 
in  which  the  system  of  rhymes  resembled  that  of  the  Faerie  Queene;  and  that 
now  before  us,  whose  most  familiar  example  is  in  the  work  of  Sh.  If  not  so 
intricately  melodious  as  the  Spenserian  sonnet,  nor  yet  so  sonorously  sustained 
as  the  Petrarchan,  this  Shaksperean  sonnet  is  constantly  fresh,  varied,  dig- 
nified, and  above  all  idiomatic.  Why  certain  metrical  forms  seem  specially 
at  home  in  certain  languages,  it  is  hard  to  say;  but  as  surely  as  the  hexameter 
is  idiomatically  classic,  or  the  terza  rima  Italian,  or  the  alexandrine  French,  so 
the  blank  verse  line  of  Elizabethan  tragedy  and  the  melodiously  fluent  quatrains 
of  the  Shaksperean  sonnet  are  idiomatically  English.  .  .  . 

Whatever  else  the  Sonnets  reveal,  then,  they  surely  reveal  the  temperament 
of  an  artist,  —  a  temperament,  as  we  have  seen,  which  is  not  only  exquisitely 
sensitive  to  emotional  impressions,  but  is  found  to  find  the  best  relief  from  the 
suffering  of  such  sensitiveness  in  deliberate,  studied  expression  of  it.  .  .  .  To 
phrase  an  emotional  mood  an  artist  must,  as  it  were,  cut  his  nature  in  two. 
With  part  of  himself  he  must  cling  to  the  mood  in  question,  or  at  least  revive 
it  at  will.  With  another  part  of  himself  he  must  deliberately  withdraw  from 
the  mood,  observe  it,  criticise  it,  and  carefully  seek  the  vehicle  of  expression 
which  shall  best  serve  to  convey  it  to  other  minds  than  his  own.  .  .  .  Undoubt- 
edly this  process  is  not  always  conscious.  Beyond  question,  remarkable  artis- 
tic effects  are  sometimes  produced  by  methods  which  seem  to  the  artist  spon- 
taneous. Such  effects,  however,  wonderful  though  they  be,  are  in  a  sense  rather 
accidental  than  masterly;  and  whatever  else  the  art  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets  may  be 
called,  it  is  beyond  doubt  masterly,  not  accidental. 

.  .  .  What  they  express,  in  terms  of  emotional  moods,  cannot  be  much  ques- 
tioned. The  real  doubt,  after  all,  concerns  only  what  caused  these  moods;  and 
that  is  a  question  rather  of  gossip  and  of  scandal,  of  impertinent  curiosity,  than 
of  criticism.  What  the  Sonnets  surely  express  —  what  no  criticism  can  take 
from  us  —  is  the  eagerness,  the  restlessness,  the  eternally  sweet  suffering  of  a 
lover  whose  love  is  of  this  world.  Love,  sacred  or  profane,  idealizes  its  object. 
If  this  object  be  earthly  or  human,  experience  must  finally  shatter  the  ideal. 
Religion  is  a  certainty  only  because  the  object  of  its  love  is  a  pure  ideal,  which 
nothing  but  change  of  faith  can  alter.  So  long  as  any  human  being  cares  pas- 
sionately for  anything  not  purely  ideal,  so  long  will  he  surely  find  life  tragic. 
The  lasting  tragedy  of  earthly  love,  then,  is  what  the  Sonnets  phrase;  and  this 
they  phrase  in  no  impersonal  terms,  but  rather  in  the  language  of  one  whose 
temperament,  as  you  grow  year  by  year  to  know  it  better,  stands  out  as  indi- 
vidual as  any  in  literature.  .  .  .  The  deep  depression,  the  acute  suffering,  the 
fierce  passion  which  should  normally  result  from  what  we  have  seen,  Sh.  seems 
fully  to  have  known.  Instead  of  expressing  it,  however,  in  such  wild  outbursts 
as  one  might  naturally  expect,  he  displays  throughout  a  power  of  self-mas- 
tery, which  gives  his  every  utterance,  no  matter  how  passionate,  the  beauty 
of  restrained  and  mastered  artistic  form. 

{William  Shakspere,  pp.  226-36.) 


GENERAL  CRITICISM  397 

George  Wyndham:  [Sh.'s]  poetic  themes  are  figured  and  displayed  through- 
out the  Sonnets  by  means  of  an  imagery  which,  as  in  V.  &  A.  and  Lucrece,  is 
often  so  vividly  seized  and  so  minutely  presented  as  to  engross  attention  to 
the  prejudice  of  the  theme.  Indeed,  at  some  times  the  poet  himself  seems  rather 
the  quarry  than  the  pursuer  of  his  own  images  —  as  it  were  a  magician  hounded 
by  spirits  of  his  summoning.  Conceits  were  a  fashion,  and  Sh.  sometimes  fol- 
lowed the  fashion;  but  this  characteristic  of  his  lyrical  verse  is  rather  a  passive 
consequence  of  such  obsession  than  the  result  of  any  deliberate  pursuit  of  an 
image  until  it  becomes  a  conceit.  Put  " his"  for  "her,"  and  in  Lucrece  he  himself 
describes  the  process: 

Much  like  a  press  of  people  at  a  door, 
Throng  his  inventions  which  shall  go  before. 

The  retina  of  his  mind's  eye,  like  a  child's,  or  that  of  a  man  feverish  from  the 
excitement  of  some  high  day,  is  as  it  were  a  shadow-sheet,  on  which  images 
received  long  since  revive  and  grow  to  the  very  act  and  radiancy  of  life.  .  .  . 
Taine  insists,  perhaps  too  exclusively,  on  the  vivid  imagery  of  Sh.'s  verse; 
Minto  and  Mrs.  Meynell,  perhaps  too  exclusively,  on  the  magic  of  sound  and 
association  which  springs  from  his  unexpected  collocation  of  words  till  then 
unmated.  The  truth  seems  to  lie  in  a  fusion  of  the  two  theories.  When  Sh.  takes 
his  images  from  nature,  the  first  excellence  is  predominant;  the  second,  when 
he  takes  them  from  the  occupations  of  men.  Often,  in  the  Sonnets,  he  illus- 
trates his  theme  with  images  from  inheritance,  or  usury,  or  the  law;  and  then 
his  effects  are  rather  produced  by  the  successful  impressment  of  technical 
terms  to  the  service  of  poetry  than  by  the  recollections  they  revive  of  legal 
processes: 

When  to  the  sessions  of  sweet  silent  thought 
I  summon  up  remembrance  of  things  past. 

Among  such  occupations  he  draws  also  upon  journeys  (50),  navigation  (80, 
86,  116),  husbandry  (3),  medicine  (118),  sieges  (2),  and  a  courtier's  career 
(7,  114).  .  .  .  He  draws  also  on  the  arts  of  painting  (frequently),  of  music  (8, 
128),  of  the  stage  (23);  on  the  dark  sciences  [14,  15,  107];  on  alchemy  (33)  and 
distillation  [5,  6,  54,  119].  When,  as  in  these  examples,  he  takes  his  illustra- 
tions from  professions  and  occupations,  or  from  arts  and  sciences,  his  magic, 
no  doubt,  is  mainly  verbal;  but  it  springs  from  immediate  perception  (as  in  the 
case  of  annual  and  diurnal  changes),  when  his  images  are  taken  from  subtler 
effects  of  sensuous  appreciation,  be  it  of  shadows,  of  the  transparency  of  win- 
dows (3,  24),  of  reflections  in  mirrors  (3,  22,  62,  77,  103),  or  of  hallucinations 
in  the  dark  [27,  43,  61].  And  this  source  of  his  magic  is  evident  also,  when,  as 
frequently,  he  makes  use  of  jewels  (27,  34,  48,  52,  65,  96),  apparel- (2,  26,  76), 
the  rose  (1,  35,  54,  67,  95,  99,  109),  the  grave  (1,  4,  6,  17,  31,  32,  71,  72,  77,  81), 
sepulchral  monuments  (55,  81,  107),  the  alternation  of  sunshine  with  showers 
(33,  34),  the  singing  of  birds  (29),  and  their  silence  (97,  102).  Realism  is  the 
note  of  these  imaginative  perceptions,  as  it  is  when  he  writes: 

'T  is  not  enough  that  through  the  cloud  thou  break 

To  dry  the  rain  on  my  storm-beaten  face; 


398  APPENDIX 

[and  23,  1-2 ;  50,  5-6;  60,  1 ;  73,  2-3];  when  he  instances  the  "dyer's  hand  "(ill) 
and  the  "crow  that  flies  in  heaven's  sweetest  air"  (70)  —  a  clue  to  carrion  — 
or  when  he  captures  a  vivid  scene  of  nursery  comedy  (143).  In  all  such  pas- 
sages the  magic  springs  from  imaginative  observation  rather  than  from  unex- 
pected verbal  collocutions.  And,  while  this  observation  is  no  less  keen,  the 
rendering  of  it  no  less  faithful,  than  in  the  earlier  lyrical  poems,  conceits, 
though  still  to  be  found,  are  fewer:  e.g.,  of  the  eye  and  heart  (24,  46,  47),  of  the 
four  elements  —  earth,  air,  fire,  water  (44,  45),  and  of  the  taster  to  a  king  (1 14). 

On  the  other  hand,  the  eloquent  discourse  of  the  earlier  poems  becomes  the 
staple  of  the  Sonnets  and  their  highest  excellence.  It  is  for  this  that  we  chiefly 
read  them.  .  .  .  The  charm  of  Sh.'s  verbal  surprises — e.g.,  "a  lass  unparalleled," 
"multitudinous  seas,"  instanced  by  Mrs.  Meynell  —  once  noted,  is  readily 
recognized,  but  much  of  his  verbal  melody  defies  analysis.  Yet  some  of  it,  re- 
minding you  of  Chaucer's  "divine  liquidness  of  diction,  his  divine  fluidity 
of  movement,"  *  .  .  .  may  be  explained  by  that  absolute  mastery  he  had  over 
the  rhythmical  use  of  our  English  accent.  ...  No  other  English  poet  lets  the 
accent  fall  so  justly  in  accord  with  the  melody  of  his  rhythm  and  the  emphasis 
of  his  speech,  or  meets  it  with  a  greater  variety  of  subtly  affiliated  sounds.  .  .  . 
[Take  Sonnet  1,]  and  you  observe  (1)  the  use  of  kindred  sounds,  of  alliteration 
or  of  assonance  or  of  both,  to  mark  the  principal  stresses  in  any  one  line;  e.g., 
line  1,  creatures  and  increase,  where  both  are  used;  line  3,  riper  and  time;  line 
4,  heir  and  bear;  line  5,  contracted  and  bright;  line  9,  Thou  and  now;  —  and  (2), 
and  this  is  most  characteristic,  the  juxtaposition  of  assonantal  sounds  where 
two  syllables  consecutive,  but  in  separate  words,  are  accented  with  a  marked 
pause  between  them:  e.g.,  line  5,  bright  eyes;  line  8,  too  cruel;  line  11,  bud 
bwriest;  line  12,  mak'st  waste.  Mr.  Patmore  points  out  (Essay  on  English 
Metrical  Law)  that  "ordinary  English  phrases  exhibit  a  great  preponderance 
of  emphatic  and  unemphatic  syllables  in  consecutive  couples,"  and  our  eight- 
eenth century  poets,  absorbed  in  metre  and  negligent  of  varied  rhythm, 
traded  on  this  feature  of  our  tongue  to  produce  a  number  of  dull  iambic  lines 
by  the  use  of  their  banal  trochaic  epithets,  "balmy,"  "mazy,"  and  the  rest. 
Sh.  constantly  varies  his  rhythm  in  the  Sonnets,  and  frequently  by  this  bring- 
ing of  two  accented  syllables  together,  with  a  pause  between.  But,  when  he 
does  so,  he  ensures  a  correct  delivery  by  affiliating  the  two  syllables  in  sound, 
and  prefixing  to  the  first  a  delaying  word  which  precludes  any  scamping  of 
the  next  ensuing  accent:  e.g.,  "own"  before  "bright  eyes,"  "self"  before  "too 
cruel,"  "churl"  before  "mak'st  waste."  Cf.  "earth"  before  "sings  hymns" 
in  29,  12;  and  15,  8:  "and  wear  their  brave  state  out  of  memory." 

It  is  by  this  combination  of  accent  with  rhyme  that  Sh.  links  the  lines  of  each 
quatrain  in  his  Sonnets  into  one  perfect  measure.  If  you  except  two  [116  and 
129],  you  find  that  he  does  not,  as  Milton  did  afterwards,  build  up  his  sonnet, 
line  upon  line,  into  one  monumental  whole:  he  writes  three  lyrical  quatrains, 
with  a  pronounced  pause  after  the  second  and  a  couplet  after  the  third.  Taking 
the  first  sonnet  once  more,  you  observe  (3)  the  binding  together  of  the  lines 

*  Matthew  Arnold. 


GENERAL  CRITICISM  399 

in  each  quatrain  by  passing  on  a  kindred  sound  from  the  last,  or  most  impor- 
tant, accent  in  one  line  to  the  first,  or  most  important,  in  the  next:  e.g.,  from 
2  to  3,  from  die  to  riper  by  assonance;  from  2  to  4,  from  time  to  tender  by  allitera- 
tion; from  6  to  7,  from  fuel  to  famine;  [etc.]   Cf.  60,  6-7: 

Crawls  to  maturity,  wherewith  being  crown'd 
Crooked  eclipses  'gainst  his  glory  fight. 
...  (4)  For  a  further  binding  together  of  the  quatrain  the  rhyme,  or  last  syl- 
lable, though  not  accented,  is  often  tied  by  assonance  to  the  first  syllable, 
though  not  accented,  of  the  next  line:  e.g.,  lines  3,  4,  decease  —  his;  lines  7, 8, 
lies  —  thyself;  lines  10,  II,  Spring — within;  lines  12,   13,  niggarding  —  pity. 
Sh.'s  effects  of  alliteration,  apart  from  this  use  of  them  for  the  binding  together 
of  the  quatrain,  are  at  some  times  of  astonishing  strength: 
When  rocks  impregnable  are  not  so  stout 
Nor  gates  of  steel  so  strong  but  Time  decays;  (65,  7-8) 
and  at  others  of  a  strange  sweetness: 

The  world  will  be  thy  widow  and  still  weep.   (9,  5) 
Again,  at  others  he  uses  the  device  antithetically  in  discourse: 

Were  it  not  thy  sour  leisure  gave  sweet  leave;  (39,  10) 

and  his  rhythm  is  at  all  times  infinitely  varied;  [cf.  19,  14;  33,  7;  86,  4;  II,  10.] 
.  .  .  Works  of  perfect  art  are  the  tombs  in  which  artists  lay  to  rest  the  pas- 
sions they  would  fain  make  immortal.  The  more  perfect  their  execution,  the 
longer  does  the  sepulchre  endure,  the  sooner  does  the  passion  perish.  Only 
where  the  hand  has  faltered  do  ghosts  of  love  and  anguish  still  complain.  In 
the  most  of  his  Sonnets  Sh.'s  hand  does  not  falter.  The  wonder  of  them  lies 
in  the  art  of  his  poetry,  not  in  the  accidents  of  his  life;  and,  within  that  art, 
not  so  much  in  his  choice  of  poetic  themes  as  in  the  wealth  of  his  imagery,  which 
grows  and  shines  and  changes:  above  all,  in  the  perfect  execution  of  his  verbal 
melody.  That  is  the  body  of  which  his  imagery  is  the  soul,  and  the  two  make 
one  creation  so  beautiful  that  we  are  not  concerned  with  anything  but  its 

beauty. 

{Poems  of  Sh.,  Introduction,  pp.  cxxxii-cxlvii.) 

George  Brandes:  It  has  been  insisted  that  love  for  a  beautiful  youth,  which 
the  study  of  Plato  had  presented  to  the  men  of  the  Renaissance  in  its  most  at- 
tractive light,  was  a  standing  theme  among  English  poets  of  that  age,  who, 
moreover,  as  in  Sh.'s  case,  were  wont  to  praise  the  beauty  of  their  friend  above 
that  of  their  mistress.  The  woman,  too,  as  in  this  case,  often  enters  as  a  dis- 
turbing element  into  the  relation.  It  was  an  accepted  part  of  the  convention 
that  the  poet  should  represent  himself  as  withered  and  wrinkled,  whatever  his 
real  age  might  be;  Sh.  does  so  again  and  again,  though  he  was  at  most  thirty- 
seven.  Finally,  it  was  quite  in  accordance  with  use  and  wont  that  the  fair 
youth  should  be  exhorted  to  marry,  so  that  his  beauty  might  not  die  with 
him.  Sh.  had  already  placed  such  exhortations  in  the  mouth  of  the  Goddess 
of  Love  in  V.  &  A.  .  . . 


400  APPENDIX 

All  this  is  true,  and  yet  there  is  no  reasonable  ground  for  doubting  that  the 
Sonnets  stand  in  pretty  close  relation  to  actual  facts.  The  age,  indeed,  deter- 
mines the  tone,  the  coloring,  of  the  expressions  in  which  friendship  clothes  itself. 
In  Germany  and  Denmark,  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  friendship  was 
a  sentimental  enthusiasm,  just  as  in  England  and  Italy  during  the  sixteenth 
century  it  took  the  form  of  platonic  love.  We  can  clearly  discern,  however, 
that  the  different  methods  of  expression  answered  to  corresponding  shades 
of  difference  in  the  emotion  itself.  The  men  of  the  Renaissance  gave  them- 
selves up  to  an  adoration  of  friendship  and  of  their  friend  which  is  now  unknown, 
except  in  circles  where  a  perverted  sexuality  prevails.  Montaigne's  friend- 
ship for  Estienne  de  la  Boetie,  and  Languet's  passionate  tenderness  for  the 
youthful  Philip  Sidney,  are  cases  in  point.  Sir  Thomas  Browne  writes  in  his 
Religio  Medici  (1642):  "I  never  yet  cast  a  true  affection  on  a  woman;  but  I 
have  loved  my  friend  as  I  do  virtue,  my  soul,  my  God.  ...  I  love  my  friend 
before  myself,  and  yet,  methinks,  I  do  not  love  him  enough:  some  few  months 
hence  my  multiplied  affection  will  make  me  believe  I  have  not  loved  him  at  all. 
When  I  am  from  him,  I  am  dead  till  I  be  with  him;  when  I  am  with  him,  I  am 
not  satisfied,  but  would  still  be  nearer  him."  But  the  most  remarkable  example 
of  a  frenzied  friendship  in  Renaissance  culture  and  poetry  is  undoubtedly  to 
be  found  in  Michael  Angelo's  letters  and  sonnets.  Michael  Angelo's  relation  to 
Messer  Tommaso  de'  Cavalieri  presents  the  most  interesting  parallel  to  the 
attitude  which  Sh.  adopted  towards  William  Herbert.  We  find  the  same  ex- 
pressions of  passionate  love  from  the  older  to  the  younger  man;  but  here  it  is 
still  more  unquestionably  certain  that  we  have  not  to  do  with  mere  poetical  fig- 
ures of  speech,  since  the  letters  are  not  a  whit  less  ardent  and  enthusiastic  than 
the  sonnets.  The  expressions  in  the  sonnets  are  sometimes  so  warm  that  Michael 
Angelo's  nephew,  in  his  edition  of  them,  altered  the  word  Signiore  into  Signora, 
and  these  poems,  like  Sh.'s,  were  for  some  time  supposed  to  have  been  addressed 
to  a  woman.    (Ludwig  von  Scheffler:  Michel  Angelo.    1892.) 

...  As  regards  the  form,  the  first  and  most  obvious  remark  is  that,  in  spite 
of  their  name,  these  poems  are  not  in  reality  sonnets  at  all,  and  have,  indeed, 
nothing  in  common  with  the  sonnet  except  their  fourteen  lines.  In  the  structure 
of  his  so-called  Sonnets  Sh.  simply  followed  the  tradition  and  convention  of  his 
country.  .  .  .  The  chief  defect  in  Sh.'s  Sonnets  as  a  metrical  whole  consists  in 
the  appended  couplet,  which  hardly  ever  keeps  up  to  the  level  of  the  beginning, 
hardly  ever  presents  any  picture  to  the  eye,  but  is,  as  a  rule,  merely  reflective, 
and  often  brings  the  burst  of  feeling  which  animates  the  poem  to  a  feeble,  or 
at  any  rate  more  rhetorical  than  poetic,  issue. 

In  actual  poetic  value  the  Sonnets  are  extremely  uneven.  The  first  group 
undoubtedly  stands  lowest  in  the  scale,  with  its  seventeen  times  repeated  and 
varied  exhortation  to  the  friend  to  leave  the  world  a  living  reproduction  of  his 
beauty.  They  necessarily  express  but  little  of  the  poet's  personal  feeling.  .  .  . 
The  last  two  Sonnets  in  the  collection,  dealing  with  a  conventional  theme  bor- 
rowed from  the  antique,  are  likewise  entirely  impersonal.  .  .  .  Next  in  order 
stand  the  Sonnets  of  merely  conventional  inspiration,  those  in  which  the  eye  and 


GENERAL  CRITICISM  401 

heart  go  to  law  with  each  other,  or  in  which  the  poet  plays  upon  his  own  name 
and  his  friend's.  These  cannot  possibly  claim  any  high  poetic  value.  But  the 
poems  thus  set  apart  form  but  a  small  minority  of  the  collection.  In  all  the 
others  the  waves  of  feeling  run  high,  and  it  may  be  said  in  general  that  the 
deeper  the  sentiment  and  the  stronger  the  emotion  they  express,  the  more  ad- 
mirable is  their  force  of  diction  and  their  marvelous  melody.  There  are  Sonnets 
whose  musical  quality  is  unsurpassed  by  any  of  the  songs  introduced  into  the 
plays,  or  even  by  the  most  famous  and  beautiful  speeches  in  the  plays  them- 
selves. The  free  and  lax  form  he  had  adopted  was  of  evident  advantage  to  Sh. 
The  triple  and  quadruple  rhymes,  which  in  Italian  involve  scarcely  any  diffi- 
culty or  constraint,  would  have  proved  very  hampering  in  English.  As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  Sh.  has  been  able  to  follow  out  every  inspiration  unimpeded  by  the 
shackles  of  an  elaborate  rhyme-scheme,  and  has  achieved  a  rare  combination 
of  terseness  and  harmony  in  the  expression  of  sorrow,  melancholy,  anguish,  and 
resignation.  .  .  . 

Sh.'s  Sonnets  are  for  the  general  reader  the  most  inaccessible  of  his  works,  but 
they  are  also  the  most  difficult  to  tear  oneself  away  from.  .  .  .  The  reader  who 
can  reconcile  himself  to  the  fact  that  great  geniuses  are  not  necessarily  models 
of  correctness  will  pass  a  very  different  judgment  [from  Browning's  "the  less 
Shakespeare  he."]  He  will  follow  with  eager  interest  the  experiences  which  rent 
and  harrowed  Sh.'s  soul.  He  will  rejoice  in  the  insight  afforded  by  these  poems, 
which  the  crowd  ignores,  into  the  tempestuous  emotional  life  of  one  of  the  great- 
est of  men.  Here,  and  here  alone,  we  see  Sh.  himself,  as  distinct  from  his  poeti- 
cal creations,  loving,  admiring,  longing,  yearning,  adoring,  disappointed,  hu- 
miliated, tortured.  Here  more  than  anywhere  else  can  we,  who  at  a  distance 
of  three  centuries  do  homage  to  the  poet's  art,  feel  ourselves  in  intimate  com- 
munion, not  only  with  the  poet,  but  with  the  man. 

(William  Shakespeare,  1 :  342-56.) 

Thomas  R.  Price:  So  soon  as  the  world  ceases  to  seek  in  the  sonnets  for 
morbid  details  of  the  poet's  biography,  and  for  the  revelation  of  his  adventures 
and  intrigues,  those  poems  assume  their  true  value  as  works  of  art.  And,  if 
the  stages  of  a  poet's  artistic  development  be  in  truth  the  vital  facts  of  a  poet's 
life,  then  the  sonnets  become  of  monumental  worth,  stages  in  the  attainment 
of  his  perfect  art,  the  training-school  of  his  transcendent  genius  for  poetic 
form.  They  are  the  abiding  record  of  his  studies  in  poetry.  ...  In  essence  .  .  . 
the  sonnets  are  as  purely  and  intensely  dramatic  as  the  dramas  themselves. 
There  is,  under  the  lyrical  form,  the  same  movement  and  process  of  the  imagi- 
nation. For,  in  each  drama,  each  dramatic  speech  that  the  poet  creates  is 
the  utterance,  as  conceived  by  the  poet,  of  some  imagined  person  as  evoked  by 
some  imagined  situation.  .  .  .  And  in  the  sonnets,  in  like  manner,  for  the  crea- 
tion of  each  sonnet,  there  is  the  situation  that  the  poet  imagines  and  the  per- 
sonality that  he  poses  in  the  situation.  Thus,  in  fitting  dramatically  the  style, 
in  all  its  details  of  language  and  versification,  to  the  character  and  to  the  situa- 
tion as  he  imagined  them,  he  struck  the  deepest  fountain  of  lyrical  inspiration. 


402  APPENDIX 

Hence  the  infinite  variety  and  impersonality  of  the  sonnets  themselves.  Sh. 
made  of  them,  in  the  mighty  studies  of  his  youth,  no  trivial  revelation  of  wo- 
men that  had  kissed  him  nor  of  friends  that  had  betrayed  him,  but  the  gen- 
eralized utterance  of  human  passion.  The  characters  that  he  imagined  were  so 
placed  in  a  series  of  imaginary  situations,  as  to  exhibit,  in  the  widest  possible 
range  of  emotion,  the  full  play  of  the  human  soul.  .  .  . 

For  Sh.  himself,  as  for  all  the  great  writers  of  his  time,  the  chief  problem  of 
style,  in  the  poetic  handling  of  their  English  language,  was  the  dainty  choice 
of  words.  ...  In  Sh.,  within  the  compass  of  the  sonnets,  the  chief  character  to 
be  noted  is  the  wide  range  of  his  choice,  the  flexibility  of  his  style.  In  all  the 
sonnets  taken  together,  there  is  the  average  of  i6|  per  cent  of  foreign  words 
to  83 \  per  cent  of  native  words.  But  in  separate  sonnets,  and  in  groups  of  son- 
nets, there  is  large  divergence  from  this  normal  average.  The  percentage  of 
foreign  words,  at  its  lowest,  falls  to  7^  per  cent,  and  at  its  highest  rises  to  265 
per  cent.  .  .  .  The  sonnets  that  show  the  largest  excess  of  foreign  diction  are 
107,  125,  15,  66,  85,  129,  127,  4,  8.  The  sonnets  in  which  the  diction  is  purest 
are  43,  73,  22,  24,  42,  61,  9,  72,  92,  140.  Several  in  each  class  are  supremely 
beautiful.  They  show  with  what  skill  the  poet  knew  how  to  secure  the  tone  of 
his  emotion.  .  .  . 

The  leading  words  of  each  verse  were  chosen  habitually  for  their  delicate 
alliterative  harmony  with  one  another.  In  composing  the  sonnets  [Sh.]  became, 
as  we  shall  see,  almost  infallible  in  the  proper  placing  of  the  csesural  pause. 
Thus,  as  the  result  of  the  caesura  was  to  cut  the  verse  into  two  halves,  he 
felt,  like  the  older  poets,  the  need  of  linking  the  two  parts  by  most  ingenious 
harmonies  of  sound.  In  many  cases,  this  could  be  done  without  formal  allitera- 
tion, by  the  correspondence  of  his  accented  vowels.  Apart  from  this  means,  and 
apart  from  those  innumerable  cases  in  which  alliteration  is  used  only  to  deco- 
rate a  single  half-verse,  there  is  in  the  sonnets  careful  alliteration  of  verse- 
structure  in  38  per  cent  of  his  verses.  In  general,  Sh.  confines  the  process  to  the 
single  verse;  but  in  some  sonnets  he  binds  together  by  alliteration  groups  of 
verses,  e.g.,  82,  10-11;  71,  2-3;  135,  1-2;  127,  2-3-4;  i°9,  6-7-  •  •  • 

In  almost  all  sonnets  there  is  lack  of  lucidity  in  syntax,  lack  of  logical  pre- 
cision in  the  arrangement  of  sentences,  either  a  too  violent  compression  of  the 
thought  to  be  expressed  or  an  excessive  looseness  and  prolixity.  It  is  here  that 
the  young  Sh.  shows  the  supreme  mastery  of  his  art.  For  him,  the  perfect  pose 
of  his  thought  upon  the  "sonnet's  Procrustean  bed"  reveals  neither  cramping 
nor  stretching.  Except  in  two  or  three  passages,  where  the  text  is  doubtful,  the 
syntax  of  the  sonnets  is  faultless  and  even  luminous.  He  has  solved  in  his  son- 
net-composition not  only  the  problem  of  choosing  and  grouping  his  sentences 
according  to  their  sensuous  rhythm,  but  also  the  problem  of  constructing  and 
grouping  his  sentences  according  to  their  intellectual  relations.  Thus,  in  the 
best  of  the  sonnets,  above  all  in  those  in  which  he  has  revealed  the  fulness  of 
his  imaginative  power,  there  is  the  attainment  of  the  highest  poetic  harmony, 
the  harmony  of  cadence  with  emotion  and  truth  of  thought.  .  .  . 

The  last  and  the  highest  point  of  view  from  which  the  poetical  style  of  Sh. 


GENERAL  CRITICISM  403 

is  to  be  studied,  so  far  as  displayed  in  the  sonnets,  is  the  extent  to  which  his 
vocabulary  is  penetrated  and  colored  by  his  imagination.  For,  according  to 
the  purpose  to  be  attained,  words  are  to  be  chosen  either  because  they  involve 
the  figure  and  thus  transfer  the  movement  of  the  imagination,  or  because, 
being  so  far  as  possible  freed  of  figure,  they  make  their  appeal  only  to  the  pure 
reason.  It  is  in  making  this  choice  of  words  between  the  limits  thus  given,  that 
the  style  of  Sh.  shows  the  infinite  range  of  its  emotional  variation.  There  are 
in  fact,  within  the  group  of  sonnets,  intermingled  with  each  other,  two  sets  of 
poems  formed  on  principles  of  art  that  are  fundamentally  diverse.  On  the  one 
hand,  composed  with  the  highest  attainable  splendor  of  imaginative  diction, 
there  are  poems  formed  of  verses  that  are  made  each  to  sparkle  and  coruscate 
with  brilliant  touches  of  natural  poetry.  On  the  other  hand,  composed  in 
words  from  which  all  touch  of  figure  is  carefully  withheld,  there  are  poems  in 
which  the  subtle  play  of  pure  thought,  rising  sometimes  into  ingenious  conceit, 
is  made  to  take  the  place  of  imaginative  fervor.  Whether  a  poem  belongs  to 
the  one  or  to  the  other  class  may  be  roughly  tested  by  the  presence  or  the 
absence  of  consciously  suggested  figure.  Thus  among  the  sonnets  there  are  45 
that  may  be  fairly  described  as  purposely  left  bare  of  figure  and  of  imaginative 
decoration.  And  there  are  44  others  in  which  the  play  of  figure  is,  except  upon 
close  analysis,  almost  invisible.  .  .  .  Intermingled  with  these  89  there  are  21 
others  that  are  unsurpassed  in  human  literature  for  their  concentrated  splendor 
of  poetical  imagery.  In  them  the  poet,  instead  of  developing  a  curious  thought, 
embodies  an  overwhelming  emotion,  in  symbols  and  figures  of  natural  beauty, 
drawn  from  all  the  sources  of  the  poetical  imagination.  Watch,  for  example, 
the  magical  effect  of  Sonnet  33,  as,  full-orbed  in  radiance,  it  falls  into  its  place 
after  the  more  subdued  harmonies  of  30,  31,  and  32.  And  so,  again,  Sonnet  73, 
with  its  incomparable  fulness  of  sensuous  charm,  is  set,  like  a  precious  gem, 
between  the  almost  unadorned  movements  of  Sonnets  72  and  74.  Between  the 
two  extremes  that  have  been  defined  and  exhibited,  there  are  44  sonnets  that 
partake,  in  ever  shifting  degrees,  of  both  characters.  They  are  poems  in  which, 
while  there  is  more  or  less  development  of  natural  figure,  there  is  also  the 
purely  psychological  delight  in  situation  and  dramatic  movement. 

("The  Technic  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets,"  Studies  in  Honor  of  Basil  L.  Gildersleeve, 
PP-  363-75-) 

H.  C.  Beeching:  The  form  of  quatorzain  invariably  used  by  Sh.  for  his 
sonnets  was  not  the  strict  Petrarchan  form,  but  one  in  three  quatrains  and 
a  couplet;  devised,  it  is  believed,  by  the  Earl  of  Surrey,  who  wrote  in  it  at  least 
one  memorable  sonnet,  "The  soote  season  which  bud  and  bloom  forth  brings." 
Surrey's  example  seems  to  have  had  weight  with  the  Elizabethan  critics,  for 
as  early  as  1575,  i.e.  before  any  of  Daniel's  sonnets  had  appeared,  we  find 
George  Gascoigne  defining  the  sonnet  as  "a  poem  of  fourteen  lines,  every 
line  containing  ten  syllables,  the  first  twelve  rhyming  in  staves  of  four  lines 
by  cross  metre,  and  the  last  two  rhyming  together."  The  publication,  however, 
of  Sidney's  Astrophel  &  Stella  (1591)  drew  attention  once  more  to  the  Italian 


404  APPENDIX 

form  with  its  marked  division  into  octave  and  sestet,  and  both  Daniel  and 
Barnes,  whose  sonnets  immediately  followed  (1592- 1593),  used  this  form  oc- 
casionally, while  Constable  used  it  always.  It  is  therefore  significant  that  Sh. 
should  have  preferred  the  form  devised  by  Surrey.  I  cannot  do  better  than 
quote  here  some  remarks  made  on  this  point  by  Mr.  Bowyer  Nichols*  in 
refutation  of  the  idea  put  forward  by  Mark  Pattison  that  Sh.  blundered  into 
this  form  "without  any  suspicion  that  there  existed  a  better  type": 

"Whether  Sh.  could  read  Italian  and  French  may  still  be  disputed,  though 
it  is  tolerably  certain  that  he  had  a  working  acquaintance  with  them  both.  He 
may  or  may  not  have  read  Petrarch  and  Desportes;  certainly  he  did  not  borrow 
wholesale  in  the  fashion  of  contemporaries.  He  must  at  any  rate  have  been 
perfectly  familiar  with  the  Italian  type  of  the  sonnet  in  the  work  of  his  fellow- 
countrymen.  ...  It  could  not  have  been  ignorance  or  accident  (as  it  might  have 
been  with  lesser  men  like  Barnes  or  Griffin)  which  prevented  the  greatest  of  Eng- 
lish sonneteers  from  using  what  he  must  have  recognised  to  be  the  ideally  more 
perfect  form.  The  only  explanation  seems  to  be  that  he  considered  the  form 
evolved  by  Surrey  and  other  English  poets  to  have  on  the  whole  for  English 
practice  the  advantage.  He  judged,  as  we  may  believe,  that  the  classic  sym- 
metry of  the  Petrarchan  sonnet  was  in  English  too  difficult  of  attainment,  that 
it  cramped  invention,  and  imposed  too  many  sacrifices  and  concessions;  and 
that  the  artistic  end  could  better  be  achieved  in  the  inferior  medium.f  And 
indeed,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  gets  nearer  to  the  Petrarchan  quality  than  any 
other  sonneteer  in  the  dignity,  sweetness,  variety,  and  freedom  of  his  effects. 
.  .  .  One  word  may  be. said  as  to  the  final  couplet.  There  is  no  doubt  that, 
to  an  ear  attuned  to  the  Italian  scheme,  this  is  a  disturbing  element.  It  has  an 
over-emphatic  and  epigrammatic  effect.  It  has  also  this  effect,  at  any  rate  in 
most  Elizabethan  writing,  that  the  most  marked  rhythmical  break  comes  at  the 
end  of  the  three  quatrains,  at  the  twelfth  instead  of,  as  in  the  Italian,  at  the 
eighth  line.  Nevertheless  the  couplet  has  great  expressive  character,  and  it 
sums  up  the  situation  or  feeling  in  a  way  that  no  other  form  could  do: 

Now  if  thou  wouldst,  when  all  have  given  him  over 
From  death  to  life  thou  mightst  him  yet  recover, 
and 

If  this  be  error  and  upon  me  proved, 

I  never  writ  nor  no  man  ever  loved. 

Keats,  following  certain  elder  examples,  when  he  uses  the  Elizabethan  form, 
runs  on  the  sense  from  the  third  stanza  into  the  couplet;  but  it  would  seem 
really  most  in  consonance  with  the  genius  of  the  form  frankly  to  make  the 
pause  at  the  twelfth  line,  and  this  Sh.,  I  think,  always  does."  J 

.  .  .  The  reader  who  passes  from  the  V.  &  A.  or  Lucrece  to  the  Sonnets  un- 
doubtedly perceives  a  difference  in  point  of  style,  but  it  is  not  so  easy  to  describe 

*  A  Little  Book  of  Sonnets,  Introduction,  p.  xviii. 

t  Mr.  Nichols  notes  that  the  choice  and  practice  of  Sh.  are  confirmed  by  Keats,  whose  ear- 
lier sonnets  were  Italian  in  form,  but  the  later  Shakespearean. 
X  The  one  exception  seems  to  be  S.  35. 


GENERAL  CRITICISM  405 

as  the  corresponding  change  that  came  over  Sh.'s  method  of  writing  blank 
verse,  which  can,  to  a  certain  extent.,  be  formulated,  especially  in  regard  to  the 
position  of  the  pause.  In  the  sonnets,  as  in  the  poems,  the  pause  comes  regu- 
larly at  the  end  of  the  line,  and  a  central  pause  is  rare,  though  it  is  occasionally 
found;  for  instance  in  63,  4;  104,  3;  116,  2.  The  difference  between  the  poems 
and  the  sonnets  is  largely  a  difference  of  substance;  the  latter  impress  us  as 
the  work  of  a  maturer  mind.  The  poems,  with  all  their  beauty,  are  somewhat 
thin;  the  matter  seems  stretched  out  to  fit  the  form;  while  in  the  sonnets  the 
mould  of  form  is  exactly  filled;  thought  has  deepened;  passion  has  taken  the 
place  of  rhetoric,  and  limpidity  is  exchanged  for  richness.  If  we  would  find  a 
parallel  in  the  plays  to  the  balance  of  style  and  substance,  thought  and  imagi- 
nation, that  is  so  striking  in  the  greater  number  of  the  sonnets,  we  must  turn 
not  to  the  rhymed  scenes  of  the  early  plays  but  to  the  more  lyrical  passages 
of  the  blank  verse  in  the  poet's  middle  period;  to  such  lines,  for  instance,  as  these 
from  the  M.  V. : 

A  day  in  April  never  came  so  sweet, 

To  show  how  costly  summer  was  at  hand, 

As  this  fore-spurrer  comes  before  his  lord  (II,  ix,  93-95); 

or  these,  from  the  same  play: 

There's  not  the  smallest  orb  which  thou  behold'st 

But  in  his  motion  like  an  angel  sings, 

Still  quiring  to  the  young-eyed  cherubins     (V,  60-62). 

(Sonnets  of  Sh.,  Introduction,  pp.  xlviii-li.) 

Sidney  Lee:  Though  Sh.'s  sonnets  are  unequal  in  literary  merit,  many  reach 
levels  of  lyric  melody  and  meditative  energy  which  are  not  to  be  matched 
elsewhere  in  poetry.    Numerous  lines  like 

Gilding  pale  streams  with  heavenly  alchemy 
or 

When  to  the  sessions  of  sweet  silent  thought 

seem  to  illustrate  the  perfection  of  human  utterance.  If  a  few  of  the  poems 
sink  into  inanity  beneath  the  burden  of  quibbles  and  conceits,  others  are  almost 
overcharged  with  the  mellowed  sweetness  of  rhythm  and  metre,  the  depth  of 
thought  and  feeling,  the  vividness  of  imagery,  and  the  stimulating  fervour  of 
expression  which  are  the  finest  fruits  of  poetic  power. 

...  In  spite  of  the  vagueness  of  intention  which  envelops  some  of  the  poems, 
and  the  slenderness  of  the  links  which  bind  together  many  consecutive  son- 
nets, the  whole  collection  is  well  calculated  to  create  the  illusion  of  a  series 
of  earnest  personal  confessions.  The  collection  has  consequently  been  often 
treated  as  a  self-evident  excerpt  from  the  poet's  autobiography.  .  .  .  But  any 
strictly  literal  or  autobiographical  interpretation  has  to  meet  a  formidable 
array  of  difficulties.  Two  general  objections  present  themselves  on  the  thresh- 
old of  the  discussion.  In  the  first  place,  the  autobiographic  interpretation  is 
to  a  large  extent  in  conflict  with  the  habit  of  mind  and  method  of  work  which 


406  APPENDIX 

are  disclosed  in  the  rest  of  Sh.'s  achievement.  In  the  second  place,  it  credits 
the  poet  with  humiliating  experiences  of  which  there  is  no  hint  elsewhere. 

On  the  first  point,  little  more  needs  saying  than  that  Sh.'s  mind  was  domi- 
nated and  engrossed  by  genius  for  drama,  and  that,  in  view  of  his  supreme  mas- 
tery of  dramatic  power,  the  likelihood  that  any  production  of  his  pen  should 
embody  a  genuine  piece  of  autobiography  is  on  a  priori  grounds  small.  Robert 
Browning,  no  mean  psychologist,  went  so  far  as  to  assert  that  Sh.  "ne'er  so 
little"  at  any  point  of  his  work  left  his  "bosom's  gate  ajar,"  and  declared  him 
incapable  of  unlocking  his  heart  "with  a  sonnet-key."  That  the  energetic  fer- 
vour which  animates  many  of  Sh.'s  sonnets  should  bear  the  living  semblance  of 
private  ecstasy  or  anguish,  is  no  confutation  of  Browning's  view.  No  critic 
of  insight  has  denied  all  tie  of  kinship  between  the  fervour  of  the  sonnets  and 
the  passion  which  is  portrayed  in  the  tragedies.  The  passion  of  the  tragedies 
is  invariably  the  dramatic  or  objective  expression,  in  the  vividest  terms,  of  emo- 
tional experience,  which,  however  common  in  human  annals,  is  remote  from 
the  dramatist's  own  interest  or  circumstance.  Even  his  two  narrative  poems, 
as  Coleridge  pointed  out,  betray  "the  utter  aloofness  of  the  poet's  own  feelings 
from  those  of  which  he  is  at  once  the  painter  and  the  analyst."  Certainly  the 
intense  passion  of  the  tragedies  is  never  the  mere  literal  presentment  of  the 
author's  personal  or  subjective  emotional  experience,  nor  does  it  draw  sus- 
tenance from  episodes  in  his  immediate  environment.  The  personal  note  in 
the  sonnets  may  well  owe  much  to  that  dramatic  instinct  which  could  repro- 
duce intuitively  the  subtlest  thought  and  feeling  of  which  man's  mind  is 
capable. 

The  particular  course  and  effect  of  the  emotion,  which  Sh.  portrayed  in 
drama,  were  usually  suggested  or  prescribed  by  some  story  in  an  historic 
chronicle  or  work  of  fiction.  The  detailed  scheme  of  the  sonnets  seems  to  stand 
on  something  of  the  same  footing  as  the  plots  of  his  plays.  The  sonnets  weave 
together  and  develop  with  the  finest  poetic  and  dramatic  sensibility  themes 
which  had  already  served,  with  inferior  effect,  the  purposes  of  poetry  many 
times  before.  The  material  for  the  subject-matter  and  the  suggestion  of  the 
irregular  emotion  of  the  sonnets  lay  at  Sh.'s  command  in  much  literature  by 
other  pens.  The  obligation  to  draw  on  his  personal  experiences  for  his  theme 
or  its  development  was  little  greater  in  his  sonnets  than  in  his  dramas.  Hun- 
dreds of  sonneteers  had  celebrated,  in  the  language  of  love,  the  charms  of 
young  men  —  mainly  by  way  of  acknowledging  their  patronage  in  accordance 
with  a  convention  which  was  peculiar  to  the  period  of  the  Renaissance.  Thou- 
sands of  poets  had  described  their  sufferings  at  the  hands  of  imperious  beauty. 
Others  had  found  food  for  poetry  in  stories  of  mental  conflict  caused  by  a 
mistress's  infidelity  or  a  friend's  coolness.  The  spur  of  example  never  failed 
to  incite  Sh.'s  dramatic  muse  to  activity,  and  at  no  period  of  literary  history 
was  the  presentation  of  amorous  adventures  more  often  essayed  in  sonnets 
than  by  Sh.'s  poetic  contemporaries  at  home  and  abroad  during  the  last 
decade  of  the  16th  century.  ...  To  few  of  the  sonnets  can  a  controlling  artistic 
impulse  be  denied  by  criticism.    The  best  of  them  rank  with  the  richest  and 


GENERAL  CRITICISM  407 

most  concentrated  efforts  of  Sh.'s  pen.  To  pronounce  them,  alone  of  his  extant 
work,  free  of  that  "feigning"  which  he  identified  with  "the  truest  poetry,"  is 
tantamount  to  denying  his  authorship  of  them,  and  to  dismissing  them  from 
the  Shakespearean  canon. 

The  second  general  objection  which  is  raised  by  the  theory  of  the  sonnets' 
autobiographic  significance  can  be  stated  very  briefly.  A  literal  interpretation 
of  the  poems  credits  the  poet  with  a  moral  instability  which  is  at  variance  with 
the  tone  of  all  the  rest  of  his  work,  and  is  rendered  barely  admissible  by  his  con- 
temporary reputation  for  "honesty."  Of  the  "pangs  of  despised  love"  for  a 
woman,  which  he  professes  to  suffer  in  the  sonnets,  nothing  need  be  said  in  this 
connection.  But  a  purely  literal  interpretation  of  the  impassioned  protesta- 
tions of  affection  for  a  "lovely  boy,"  which  course  through  the  sonnets,  casts 
a  slur  on  the  dignity  of  the  poet's  name  which  scarcely  bears  discussion.  Of 
friendship  of  the  healthy  manly  type,  not  his  plays  alone,  but  the  records  of  his 
biography,  give  fine  and  touching  examples.  All  his  dramatic  writing,  as  well 
as  his  two  narrative  poems  and  the  testimonies  of  his  intimate  associates  in  life, 
seems  to  prove  him  incapable  of  such  a  personal  confession  of  morbid  infatua- 
tion with  a  youth,  as  a  literal  interpretation  discovers  in  the  sonnets. 

It  is  in  the  light  not  merely  of  aesthetic  appreciation  but  of  contemporary 
literary  history  that  Sh.'s  sonnets  must  be  studied,  if  one  hopes  to  reach  any 
conclusions  as  to  their  precise  significance  which  are  entitled  to  confidence.  .  .  . 
Of  chief  importance  is  it  to  realize  that  the  whole  vocabulary  of  affection  —  the 
commonest  terms  of  endearment  —  often  carried  with  them  in  Renaissance 
or  Elizabethan  poetry,  and  especially  in  Renaissance  and  Elizabethan  sonnets, 
a  poetic  value  that  is  wholly  different  from  any  that  they  bear  to-day.  The 
example  of  Tasso,  the  chief  representative  of  the  Renaissance  on  the  continent 
of  Europe  in  Sh.'s  day,  shows  with  singular  lucidity  how  the  language  of  love 
was  suffered  deliberately  to  clothe  the  conventional  relations  of  poet  to  a  help- 
ful patron.  Tasso  not  merely  recorded  in  sonnets  an  apparently  amorous  devo- 
tion for  his  patron,  the  Duke  of  Ferrara,  which  is  only  intelligible  in  its  his- 
torical environment,  but  he  also  carefully  describes  in  prose  the  precise  senti- 
ments which,  with  a  view  to  retaining  the  ducal  favour,  he  sedulously  culti- 
vated and  poetized.  In  a  long  prose  letter  to  a  later  friend  and  patron,  the 
Duke  of  Urbino,  he  wrote  of  his  attitude  of  mind  to  his  first  patron  thus:  "I 
confided  in  him,  not  as  we  hope  in  men,  but  as  we  trust  in  God.  ...  It  appeared 
to  me,  so  long  as  I  was  under  his  protection,  fortune  and  death  had  no  power 
over  me.  Burning  thus  with  devotion  to  my  lord,  as  much  as  man  ever  did 
with  love  to  his  mistress,  I  became,  without  perceiving  it,  almost  an  idolater." 
(Tasso,  Opere,  Pisa,  1821-32,  13:  298.)  .  .  .  There  is  practical  identity  between 
the  alternations  of  feeling  which  find  touching  voice  in  many  of  the  sonnets 
of  Sh.  and  those  which  colour  Tasso's  confession  of  his  intercourse  with  his 
Duke  of  Ferrara.  Both  poets  profess  for  a  man  a  lover-like  idolatry.  Both  at- 
test the  hopes  and  fears  which  his  favour  evokes  in  them,  with  a  fervour  and 
intensity  of  emotion  which  it  was  only  in  the  power  of  great  poets  to  feign. 
{Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Facsimile  edition,  1905,  Introduction,  pp.  7-13.) 


408  APPENDIX 

Walter  Raleigh:  These  Sonnets,  by  general  consent,  were  private  docu- 
ments; they  were  not  intended  by  Sh.  for  our  perusal,  but  were  addressed  to 
individuals.  To  say  that  they  do  not  "express  his  own  feelings  in  his  own  per- 
son" is  as  much  as  to  say  that  they  are  not  sincere.  And  every  lover  of  poetry 
who  has  once  read  the  Sonnets  knows  this  to  be  untrue.  It  is  not  chiefly  their 
skill  that  takes  us  captive,  but  the  intensity  of  their  quiet  personal  appeal. 
By  virtue  of  this  they  hold  their  place  with  the  greatest  poetry  in  the  world ;  they 
are  rich  in  metaphor  and  various  in  melody,  but  these  resources  of  art  have 
been  subdued  to  the  feeling  that  inspires  them,  and  have  given  us  poems  as 
simple  and  as  moving  as  the  pleading  voice  of  a  child. 

.  .  .  No  one  whose  opinion  need  be  considered  will  maintain  that  Sh.'s 
Sonnets  are  destitute  of  feeling.  Some,  whose  opinions  claim  respect,  maintain 
that  the  feeling  which  inspires  them  has  nothing  to  do  with  their  ostensible 
occasions:  that  they  are  free  exercises  of  the  poetic  fancy,  roaming  over  the 
dramatic  possibilities  of  life,  and  finding  deep  expression  for  some  of  its  imag- 
ined crises.  Those  who  hold  this  view  have  not  taken  the  trouble  to  explain 
how  some  of  the  sonnets  came  to  be  addressed  or  sent  to  any  one.  ...  If  the 
sonnets  were  never  sent,  how  did  Thorpe  get  hold  of  them?  If  they  were  cir- 
culated among  disinterested  lovers  of  poetry,  would  not  some  of  them,  which 
deal  not  with  general  themes,  but  with  personal  relations  quite  inadequately 
explained,  be  as  unintelligible  to  contemporary  readers  as  they  are  to  us?  These 
are  not  self-contained  poems,  like  Daniel's  sonnet  on  Sleep,  or  Sidney's  sonKet 
on  the  Moon;  they  are  a  commentary  on  certain  implied  events.  If  the  events 
had  no  existence,  and  the  sonnets  are  semi-dramatic  poems,  it  is  surely  essen- 
tial to  good  drama  that  the  situation  should  be  made  clear.  Moreover,  the  son- 
net form  was  used  by  the  Elizabethans,  who  followed  their  master  Petrarch, 
exclusively  for  poems  expressive  of  personal  feeling,  not  for  vague  dramatic 
fantasies. 

.  .  .  Poetry  is  not  biography;  and  the  value  of  the  Sonnets  to  the  modern 
reader  is  independent  of  all  knowledge  of  their  occasion.  That  they  were 
made  from  the  material  of  experience  is  certain:  Sh.  was  not  a  puny  imitative 
rhymester.  But  the  processes  of  art  have  changed  the  tear  to  a  pearl,  which 
remains  to  decorate  new  sorrows.  The  Sonnets  speak  to  all  who  have  known 
the  chances  and  changes  of  human  life.  Their  occasion  is  a  thing  of  the  past; 
their  theme  is  eternal.  The  tragedy  of  which  they  speak  is  the  topic  and  inspira- 
tion of  all  poetry;  it  is  the  triumph  of  Time,  marching  relentlessly  over  the 
ruin  of  human  ambitions  and  human  desires.  It  may  be  read  in  all  nature  and 
in  all  art.  ...  All  things  decay;  the  knowledge  is  as  old  as  time,  and  as  dull  as 
philosophy.  But  what  a  poignancy  it  takes  from  its  sudden  recognition  by  the 
heart: 

Then  of  thy  beauty  do  I  question  malce, 
That  thou  among  the  wastes  of  time  must  go. 

.  .  .  The  poems  of  Sh.  in  no  way  modify  that  conception  of  his  character  and 
temper  which  a  discerning  reader  might  gather  from  the  evidence  of  the  plays. 
But  they  let  us  hear  his  voice  more  directly,  without  the  intervening  barrier 


GENERAL  CRITICISM  409 

of  the  drama,  and  they  furnish  us  with  some  broken  hints  of  the  stormy  trials 
and  passions  which  helped  him  to  his  knowledge  of  the  human  heart,  and  en- 
riched his  plays  with  the  fruits  of  personal  experience. 

{Shakespeare,  pp.  87-93.) 

George  Saintsbury:  [In  the  Sonnets  Sh.]  has  a  medium  which  is  absolutely 
congenial  to  him,  and  with  which,  as  with  blank  verse,  he  can  do  anything  he 
likes.  With  his  usual  sagacity  he  chooses  the  English  form,  and  prefers  its  ex- 
tremest  variety  —  that  of  the  three  quatrains  and  couplet,  without  any  inter- 
lacing rhyme.  Nevertheless  he  gives  the  full  sonnet-effect  —  not  merely  by 
the  distribution  (which  he  does  not  always  observe,  though  he  often  does) 
of  octave  and  sestet  subject,  but  very  mainly  by  that  same  extraordinary 
symphonising  of  the  prosodic  effects  of  individual  and  batched  verses,  which 
was  his  secret  in  blank  verse  itself.  If  it  seem  surprising  that  so  difficult  and 
subtle  a  medium  should  be  mastered  so  early,  let  it  be  remembered  that  the 
single-line  mould,  properly  used,  is  by  no  means  unsuitable  to  the  sonnet,  the 
effect  of  which  is  definitely  cumulative.  ...  It  is  by  this  combined  cumulative 
and  diversifying  effect,  this  beating  up  against  the  wind  as  it  were,  that  the 
ordinary  and  extraordinary  "tower"  of  these  sonnets  is  produced;  and  this 
tower  is  to  some  readers  their  great  and  inexhaustible  charm.  No  matter  what 
the  subject  is,  the  "man  right  fair"  or  "the  woman  coloured  ill,"  the  incidents 
of  daily  joy  and  chagrin,  or  those  illimitable  meditations  on  life  and  love  and 
thought  at  large  which  eternise  the  more  ephemeral  things,  —  the  process, 
prosodic  and  poetic,  is  more  or  less  the  same,  though  carefully  kept  from 
monotony.  In  the  very  first  lines  there  is  the  spread  and  beating  of  the  wing; 
the  flight  rises  till  the  end  of  the  douzain,  when  it  stoops  or  sinks  quietly  to  the 
close  in  the  couplet.  The  intermediate  devices  by  which  this  effect  is  produced 
are,  as  always  with  Sh.,  hard  to  particularise.  Here,  as  in  the  kindred  region 
of  pure  style,  he  has  so  little  mannerism,  that  it  is  easier  to  apprehend  than  to 
analyse  his  manner.  It  may  be  a  concidence,  or  it  may  not,  that  in  a  very  large 
proportion  of  the  openings  what  we  may  call  a  bastard  caesura,  or  ending  of  a 
word  without  much  metrical  scission  at  the  third  syllable,  precedes  a  strictly 
metrical  one  at  the  fourth.  (In  other  words  the  fourth  half-foot  is  constantly 
monosyllabic.  "Look  in  thy  glass"  (S.  3)  is  the  first,  and  there  are  a  dozen 
others  in  the  first  two  dozen  sonnets.)  Another  point  is  that,  throughout,  full 
stops  or  their  equivalents  in  mid-line  are  extremely  rare,  and  even  at  the  end 
not  common,  till  the  twelfth,  so  that  the  run  of  the  whole  is  uninterrupted, 
though  its  rhythm  is  constantly  diversified.  Redundant  syllables  are  very  rare, 
except  where,  as  in  87,  they  are  accumulated  with  evident  purpose.  The 
trisyllabic  foot,  though  used  with  wonderful  effect  sometimes,  is  used  very 
sparingly.  On  the  whole  Sh.  seems  here  to  have  had  for  his  object,  or  at  any 
rate  to  have  achieved  as  his  effect,  the  varying  of  the  line  with  as  little  as  pos- 
sible breach  or  ruffling  of  it.  He  allows  himself  a  flash  or  blaze  of  summer 
lightning  now  and  then,  but  no  fussing  with  continual  crackers.  All  the  pro- 
sodic handling  is  subdued  to  give  that  steady  passionate  musing  —  that 


410  APPENDIX 

"emotion  recollected  in  tranquillity"  —  which  is  characteristic  of  the  best 
sonnets,  and  of  his  more  than  almost  of  any  others. 

{History  of  English  Prosody,  2:  59-61.) 

It  is  possible  to  lay  rather  too  much  stress  on  the  possibility  of  there  being 
no  interpretation  at  all  or  very  little;  of  the  Sonnets  being  merely,  or  mainly, 
literary  exercises.  It  is,  of  course,  perfectly  true  that  the  form,  at  this  time, 
was  an  extremely  fashionable  exercise;  and,  no  doubt,  in  some  cases,  a  fashion- 
able exercise  merely.  It  is  further  true  that,  great  as  are  the  poetical  merits 
and  capacities  of  the  sonnet,  historically  it  has  been,  and  from  its  nature  was 
almost  fated  to  be,  more  the  prey  of  "common  form"  than  almost  any  other 
variety  of  poetic  composition.  The  overpowering  authority  of  Petrarch  started 
this  common  form;  and  his  Italian  and  French  successors,  enlarging  it  to  a 
certain  extent,  stereotyped  and  conventionalized  it  even  still  more.  It  is  per- 
fectly possible  to  show,  and  has  been  well  shown  by  Sidney  Lee,  that  a  great 
number,  perhaps  the  majority,  of  sonnet  phrases,  sonnet  thoughts,  sonnet 
ornaments,  are  simply  coin  of  the  sonnet  realm,  which  has  passed  from  hand 
to  hand  through  Italian,  French  and  English,  and  circulates  in  the  actual 
Elizabethan  sonnet  like  actual  coin  in  the  body  politic  or  like  blood  in  the  body 
physical.  All  this  is  true.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  all  poetry  deals 
more  or  less  in  this  common  form,  this  common  coin,  this  circulating  fluid  of 
idea  and  image  and  phrase,  and  that  it  is  the  very  ethos,  nay,  the  very  essence, 
of  the  poet  to  make  the  common  as  if  it  were  not  common.  That  Sh.  does  so 
here  again  and  again,  in  whole  sonnets,  in  passages,  in  lines,  in  separate  phrases, 
there  is  a  tolerable  agreement  of  the  competent.  But  we  may,  without  rash- 
ness, go  a  little  further  even  than  this.  That  Sh.  had,  as  perhaps  no  other  man 
has  had,  the  dramatic  faculty,  the  faculty  of  projecting  from  himself  things  and 
persons  which  were  not  himself,  will  certainly  not  be  denied  here.  But  whether- 
he  could  create  and  keep  up  such  a  presentation  of  apparently  authentic  and 
personal  passion  as  exhibits  itself  in  these  Sonnets  is  a  much  more  difficult 
question  to  answer  in  the  affirmative.  The  present  writer  is  inclined  to  echo 
seriously  a  light  remark  of  one  of  Thackeray's  characters  on  a  different  mat- 
ter: "  Don't  think  he  could  do  it.   Don't  think  any  one  could  do  it."  * 

At  the  same  time,  it  is  of  the  first  importance  to  recognize  that  the  very 
intensity  of  feeling,  combined,  as  it  was,  with  the  most  energetic  dramatic 
quality,  would  almost  certainly  induce  complicated  disguise  and  mystifica- 
tion in  the  details  of  the  presentment.  ...  To  attempt  to  manufacture  a  biog- 
raphy of  Sh.  out  of  the  Sonnets  is  to  attempt  to  follow  a  will-o'-the-wisp.  1 
It  is  even  extremely  probable  that  a  number,  and  perhaps  a  large  number, 
of  them  do  not  correspond  to  any  immediate  personal  occasion  at  all,  or  only 
owe  a  remote  (and  literally  occasional)  impulse  thereto.  The  strong  affection 
for  the  friend;  the  unbounded,  though  not  uncritical,  passion  for  the  lady;  and 

*  [The  reverse  of  this  argument  is  presented,  though  to  the  same  effect,  by  H.  D.  Gray, 
Publ.  M.  L.  A.,  n.s.,  23:  635:  "If  Sh.  had  been  writing  as  much  of  a  story  as  these  sonnets 
tell,  and  writing  it  as  an  imaginary  or  a  borrowed  or  reflected  experience,  this  Prince  of  Drama- 
tists would  have  done  it  better."  I  think  Professor  Gray's  reasoning  the  more  sound  of  the  two. 
See  also  Bradley  to  the  same  effect,  p.  413  below.  —  Ed.] 


GENERAL  CRITICISM  411 

the  establishment  of  a  rather  unholy  "triangle"  by  a  cross  passion  between 
these  two  —  these  are  things  which,  without  being  capable  of  being  affirmed 
as  resting  on  demonstration,  have  a  joint  literary  and  psychological  probability 
of  the  strongest  kind.  All  things  beyond,  and  all  the  incidents  between,  which 
may  have  started  or  suggested  individual  sonnets,  are  utterly  uncertain. 
Browning  was  absolutely  justified  when  he  laid  it  down  that,  if  Sh.  unlocked 
his  heart  in  the  Sonnets,  "the  less  Shakespeare  he." 

.  .  .  The  Sonnets  have  some  mechanical,  and  many  more  not  mechanical, 
peculiarities.  The  chief  of  the  first  class  is  a  device  of  constantly,  though  not 
invariably,  beginning  with  a  strong  caesura  at  the  fourth  syllable,  and  a  tend- 
ency, though  the  sonnet  is  built  up  of  quatrains  alternately  rimed  with  final 
couplet,  to  put  a  still  stronger  stop  at  the  end  of  the  second  line  (where,  as  yet, 
is  no  rime),  and  at  each  second  line  of  these  non-completed  couplets  through- 
out. The  piece  is  thus  elaborately  built  up  or  accumulated,  not,  as  sonnets  on  the 
octave  and  sestet  system  often  are,  more  or  less  continuously  wrought  in  each 
of  their  two  divisions  or  even  throughout.  This  arrangement  falls  in  excel- 
lently with  the  intensely  meditative  character  of  the  Sonnets.  The  poet  seems 
to  be  exploring;  feeling  his  way  in  the  conflict  of  passion  and  meditation.  As 
fresh  emotions  and  meditations  present  themselves,  he  pauses  over  them,  some- 
times entertaining  them  only  to  reject  them  or  to  qualify  them  later;  sometimes 
taking  them  completely  to  himself.  Even  in  the  most  artificial,  such  as  Sonnet 
66,  where  almost  the  whole  is  composed  o£  successive  images  of  the  wrong  way 
of  the  world,  each  comprised  in  a  line  and  in  each  beginning  with  "and,"  this 
accumulative  character  is  noticeable;  and  it  constitutes  the  strongest  appeal 
of  the  greatest  examples.  While,  at  the  same  time,  he  avails  himself  to  the  full 
of  the  opportunity  given  by  the  English  form  for  a  sudden  "turn"  —  anti- 
thetic, it  may  be,  or  it  may  be,  rapidly  summarizing  —  in  the  final  couplet.  .  .  . 

The  attraction  of  the  Sonnets,  almost  more  than  that  of  any  other  poetry, 
consists  in  the  perpetual  subduing  of  everything  in  them  —  verse,  thought, 
diction  —  to  the  requirements  of  absolutely  perfect  poetic  expression.  From  the 
completest  successes  in  which,  from  beginning  to  end,  there  is  no  weak  point, 
such  as  [Sonnets  30  and  116,]  through  those  which  carry  the  perfection  only 
part  of  the  way,  such  as  [Sonnet  106,]  down  to  the  separate  batches  of  lines 
and  clauses  which  appear  in  all  but  a  very  few,  the  peculiar  infusing  and  trans- 
forming power  of  this  poetical  expression  is  shown  after  a  fashion  which  it  has 
proved  impossible  to  outvie.  The  precise  subject  (or,  perhaps,  it  would  be  more 
correct  to  say  the  precise  object)  of  the  verse  disappears.  It  ceases  to  be  a  mat- 
ter of  the  slightest  interest  whether  it  was  Mr.  W.  H.  or  Mistress  M.  F.  or  any- 
body or  nobody  at  all,  so  that  we  have  only  an  abstraction  which  the  poet 
chooses  to  regard  as  concrete.  The  best  motto  for  the  Sonnets  would  be  one 
taken  from  not  the  least  profound  passage  of  the  Paradiso  of  Dante: 

Qui  si  rimira  nell'  arte  ch'  adorna 
Con  tanto  affetto. 

And  this  admiration  of  the  art  of  beautiful  expression  not  only  dispenses  the 


412  APPENDIX 

reader  from  all  the  tedious,  and  probably  vain,  enquiries  into  particulars  which 
have  been  glanced  at,  but  positively  makes  him  disinclined  to  pursue  them. 
(Cambridge  History  of  English  Literature,  5:  230-33.) 

Jules  J.  Jusserand:  It  is  open  to  the  humblest  of  [Sh.'s]  admirers  to  read 
[the  Sonnets]  without  any  preconceived  opinion  and  to  form  their  own  unprej- 
udiced judgment.  They  will  find  in  them,  somewhat  as  in  all  the  master's 
works,  a  mixture  of  the  exquisite  and  the  hideous;  pearls  and  mire;  songs  of 
love,  triumphant  or  despairing,  ideal  or  bestial;  passionate  accents  so  piercing 
that  they  cannot  come,  it  seems,  but  from  the  heart;  details  that  would  have 
no  interest  if  they  were  not  taken  from  reality;  and  with  that,  conceits,  word- 
plays, samples  of  clever  craftsmanship,  imitation  of  others,  the  working  anew 
of  those  sonnet  themes  which,  in  that  epoch  of  amourists,  were  common  prop- 
erty; in  short,  a  mixture  of  the  real  and  the  imaginary,  such  as  is  to  be  met  with 
to  some  extent  in  all  poets,  including  the  most  sincere,  and  which  would  have 
been  recognized,  no  doubt,  in  Sh.  too,  were  it  not  for  his  privilege  of  exciting  sen- 
timents excessive,  passionate,  and  absolute.  To  believe  that  everything  in  his 
sonnets  corresponds  to  the  realities  of  his  life,  or  to  believe  that  nothing  does, 
is  equally  venturesome.  Because  a  poet  puts  in  his  verses  a  literary  reminis- 
cence, an  irrevelant  witticism,  or  because  he  takes  up  several  times  the  same 
theme,  some  want  him  not  to  have  felt  anything:  what  a  mistake!  It  happens 
to  the  truest  poets,  and  the  most  sincerely  moved,  to  hear  their  passion  sing  at 
various  moments,  in  diverse  keys,  to  transcribe  several  times  its  chant  or 
plaint,  and  to  mingle  it  too  with  distant  strains,  heard  in  days  gone  by,  they 
know  not  where,  nor  from  whose  lips.  But  the  prime  mover  has  nevertheless 
been  their  passion.  To  admit  that  Sh.'s  sonnets  are  mere  literary  exercises 
seems  impossible,  not  only  on  account  of  their  ring  and  tone,  which  bespeak 
realities  (though  this  has  been  disputed),  not  only  because  it  seems  very  im- 
probable that  such  a  sensitive  nature  never  felt  anything,  and  that,  having 
felt  something,  he  would  have  availed  himself,  when  writing  his  lyrics,  of  his 
book  learning  rather  than  of  his  experience,  but  also  because  too  many  of  the 
facts,  details,  and  incidents  inserted  by  him,  are  absolutely  uninteresting  if 
not  true,  and  are,  moreover,  quite  opposed  to  the  aesthetics  of  the  genre,  to  the 
credo  of  the  amourist,  of  the  poet  who  writes  to  exercise  his  pen.  .  .  . 

Something  morbid  exhales  from  these  poems.  The  spirit  of  the  Renaissance 
is  clearly  discernible  in  them,  as  well  as  an  unconscious  and  involuntary 
platonism,  the  platonism  of  Plato,  and  not  that  of  latter-day  commentators, 
the  real  one,  that  which,  for  all  that  it  rose  as  high  as  the  clouds,  none  the  less 
struck  its  roots  beneath  the  miry  earth.  Here  the  roots  are  partly  visible,  and 
pagans  never  wrote  anything  more  pagan  than  this  series  of  sonnets.  That  which 
causes  most  of  the  poet's  transports  and  ecstasies  is  the  mere  material  beauty 
of  his  friend,  the  beauty  of  his  eye,  his  lips,  his  hand,  his  foot.  .  .  .  Physical 
beauty  is  of  such  value  that  it  secures  its  owner  pardon  for  every  sin ;  physical 
ugliness  is  the  fault  for  which  there  is  no  remission.  ...  As  for  the  shadowy  be- 
yond, Sh.  speaks  of  it  in  his  sonnets,  but  in  the  same  strains  as  Claudio  or 


GENERAL  CRITICISM  413 

Hamlet;  he  does  not  seem  to  have  even  their  doubts;  he  will  be  "hid  in  death's 
dateless  night";  to  die  is  to  go 

From  this  vile  world  with  vilest  worms  to  dwell. 

No  allusion  to  a  Christian  paradise,  not  even  to  a  possible  meeting  in  classical 
Elysian  Fields;  he  expresses  here  fewer  hopes  than  the  pagans  themselves.  If 
his  spirit  survives,  it  will  be  in  the  memory  of  his  friend.  ...  If  his  friend  sur- 
vives, it  will  be  in  his  posterity  and  in  the  poet's  sonnets.  At  that  thought,  a 
reaction  takes  place  in  him,  as  happens  so  easily  in  the  changeful  soul  of  artists; 
pessimism  vanishes  for  a  moment,  and  we  have  marvellous  songs  of  triumph, 
bursting  forth  on  the  desolate  moor  strewn  with  lost  illusions,  among  the 
graves  of  the  churchyard  where  lie  buried  youth,  hopes,  virtues.  He  too  dis- 
poses of  that  supreme  gift,  beauty;  he  can  bestow  that  halo,  the  most  splendid 
and  durable  of  all;  in  his  wretchedness,  which  in  the  abjection  of  his  hours  of 
gloom  he  fancied  irremediable,  he  remembers  that  power  which  is  his:  what  the 
blind  fates  above  and  the  forces  of  nature  cannot  do,  he  can;  he  can  bestow 
immortality.  That  thought  is  for  him  the  main  consolation;  neither  priests  nor 
philosophers  have  taught  him  anything  that  could  soothe  his  troubled  heart; 
the  Muse  works  this  wonder,  and  dictates  to  him  his  finest  lines. 

(A  Literary  History  of  the  English  People,  3:  234-41.) 

A.  C.  Bradley:  The  sonnets  to  the  friend  are,  so  far  as  we  know,  unique  in 
Renaissance  literature  in  being  a  prolonged  and  varied  record  of  the  intense 
affection  of  an  older  friend  for  a  younger,  and  of  other  feelings  arising  from  their 
relations.  They  have  no  real  parallel  in  any  series  imitative  of  Virgil's  second 
Eclogue,  or  in  occasional  sonnets  to  patrons  or  patron-friends  couched  in  the 
high-flown  language  of  the  time.  The  intensity  of  the  feelings  expressed,  how- 
ever, ought  not,  by  itself,  to  convince  us  that  they  are  personal.  The  author 
of  the  plays  could,  I  make  no  doubt,  have  written  the  most  intimate  of  these 
poems  to  a  mere  creature  of  his  imagination  and  without  ever  having  felt  them 
except  in  imagination.  Nor  is  there  any  but  an  aesthetic  reason  why  he  could 
not  have  done  so  if  he  had  wished.  But  an  aesthetic  reason  there  is;  and  this 
is  the  decisive  point.  No  capable  poet,  much  less  a  Sh.,  intending  to  produce 
a  merely  "dramatic"  series  of  poems,  would  dream  of  inventing  a  story  like 
that  of  these  sonnets,  or,  even  if  he  did,  of  treating  it  as  they  treat  it.  The 
story  is  very  odd  and  unattractive.  Such  capacities  as  it  has  are  but  slightly 
developed.  It  is  left  obscure,  and  some  of  the  poems  are  unintelligible  to  us 
because  they  contain  allusions  of  which  we  can  make  nothing.  ...  It  is  all 
unnatural,  well-nigh  incredibly  unnatural,  if,  with  the  most  skeptical  critics, 
we  regard  the  sonnets  as  a  free  product  of  mere  imagination.* 

...  If  then  there  is,  as  it  appears,  no  obstacle  of  any  magnitude  to  our  taking 

the  sonnets  as  substantially  what  they  purport  to  be,  we  may  naturally  look 

in  them  for  personal  traits  (and,  indeed,  to  repeat  a  remark  made  earlier,  we 

might  still  expect  to  find  such  traits  even  if  we  knew  the  sonnets  to  be  purely 

*  I  find  that  Mr.  Beeching,  in  the  Stratford  Town  edition  of  Sh.  (1907),  has  also  urged 
these  considerations. 


4H  APPENDIX 

dramatic).  But  in  drawing  inferences  we  have  to  bear-in  mind  what  is  implied 
by  the  qualification  "substantially."  We  have  to  remember  that  some  of  these 
poems  may  be  mere  exercises  of  art;  that  all  of  them  are  poems,  and  not  let- 
ters, much  less  affidavits;  that  they  are  Elizabethan  poems;  that  the  Eliza- 
bethan language  of  deference,  and  also  of  affection,  is  to  our  minds  habitually 
extravagant  and  fantastic;  and  that  in  Elizabethan  plays  friends  openly  express 
their  love  for  one  another  as  Englishmen  now  rarely  do.  Allowance  being 
made,  however,  on  account  of  these  facts,  the  sonnets  will  still  leave  two 
strong  impressions  —  that  the  poet  was  exceedingly  sensitive  to  the  charm 
of  beauty,  and  that  his  love  for  his  friend  was,  at  least  at  one  time,  a  feeling 
amounting  almost  to  adoration,  and  so  intense  as  to  be  absorbing.  .  .  .  Most  of 
us,  I  suppose,  love  any  human  being,  of  either  sex  and  of  any  age,  the  better 
for  being  beautiful,  and  are  not  the  least  ashamed  of  the  fact.  It  is  further  the 
case  that  men  who  are  beginning,  like  the  writer  of  the  sonnets,  to  feel  tired 
and  old,  are  apt  to  feel  an  increased  and  special  pleasure  in  the  beauty  of  the 
young.  (Mr.  Beeching's  illustration  of  the  friendship  of  the  sonnets  from  the 
friendship  of  Gray  and  Bonstetten  is  worth  pages  of  argument.)  If  we  remem- 
ber, in  addition,  what  some  critics  appear  constantly  to  forget,  that  Sh.  was 
a  particularly  poetical  being,  we  shall  hardly  be  surprised  that  the  beginning  of 
this  friendship  seems  to  have  been  something  like  a  falling  in  love;  and,  if  we 
must  needs  praise  and  blame,  we  should  also  remember  that  it  became  a 
"marriage  of  true  minds."  And  as  to  the  intensity  of  the  feeling  expressed  in 
the  sonnets,  we  can  easily  believe  it  to  be  characteristic  of  the  man  who  made 
Valentine  and  Proteus,  Brutus  and  Cassius,  Horatio  and  Hamlet;  who  painted 
that  strangely  moving  portrait  of  Antonio,  middle-aged,  sad,  and  almost  indif- 
ferent between  life  and  death,  but  devoted  to  the  young,  brilliant  spendthrift 
Bassanio;  and  who  portrayed  the  sudden  compelling  enchantment  exercised  by 
the  young  Sebastian  over  the  Antonio  of  T.N. 

("Shakespeare  the  Man,"  Oxford  Lectures  on  Poetry,  pp.  330^34.) 

Ernest  Sutherland  Bates:  No  better  example  of  the  results  to  which  a  loss 
of  the  clear  sense  of  literary  values  may  lead  could  be  adduced  than  the  tend- 
ency to  confound  the  imaginative  value  and  sincerity  of  Sh.'s  sonnets  with 
that  to  be  found  in  the  work  of  his  contemporaries.  The  mistake  has  largely 
arisen  from  the  old-fashioned  tendency  to  regard  the  Shakespearean  sonnets 
as  a  unit,  and  to  assume  that  what  can  be  said  of  any  of  them  applies  equally 
well  to  all.  That  some  of  them  belong  among  the  most  conventional  and  con- 
ceited sonnets  of  the  centuryvhas  never  been  doubted,  though  it  may  be  said 
that  here  as  often  elsewhere  Sh.  was  unconventionally  conventional.  When 
he  takes  up  a  convention  he  tends  to  carry  it  to  its  logical  extreme  as  his  con- 
temporaries could  not  do.  I  doubt  if  the  punning  sonnets  on  his  own  name 
(J35»  136),  or  the  sonnet  treating  the  theme  of  his  love's  being  painted  on  his 
own  heart  (24),  can  quite  be  equalled  for  perverse  ingenuity  among  all  his  con- 
temporaries. So  the  other  conventionalities  that  he  adopts  are  either  unusually 
intellectualized  or  unusually  emotionalized. 


GENERAL  CRITICISM  415 

But  the  whole  matter  of  the  conceits  in  Sh.'s  sonnets  has  recently  been  em- 
phasized more  than  it  deserves.  The  following  are  practically  all  the  impor- 
tant instances:  punning,  Sonnets  135,  136,  143;  the  conceit  of  the  portrait  of 
his  beloved  as  painted  on  his  heart,  Sonnet  24;  personification  of  eyes  and  heart, 
Sonnets  46,  47;  play  upon  the  idea  of  the  four  elements,  Sonnets  44,  45;  elabo- 
rate legal  similes,  Sonnets  46,  87,  134;  purely  Petrarchistic  complaints  of  the 
lady's  cruelty,  Sonnets  57,  58,  139,  140,  149;  tendency  to  see  his  beloved  in  all 
the  objects  of  Nature,  Sonnets  98,  99,  113,  114;  comparison  of  his  beloved  to 
people  of  the  past,  Sonnets  59,  106;  love- wracked,  sleepless  nights,  Sonnets 
27,  28,  43,  61;  the  eternizing  theme,  lamentation  over  the  passage  of  youth 
and  beauty,  and  consolation  in  the  thought  of  his  beloved's  eternity  in  his  own 
poetry,  Sonnets  15,  18,  19,  54,  55,  60,  63,  64,  65,  81,  100,  101,  107.  It  will  be 
seen  that,  with  the  exception  of  the  last,  these  conceits  appear  in  only  26  out 
of  the  total  collection  of  154  sonnets  —  surely  a  small  proportion.  In  regard 
to  the  eternizing  theme,  I  should  myself  have  characterized  it  as  a  natural 
although  conventional  thought  rather  than  as  a  conceit,  but  I  place  it  in  the 
list  out  of  deference  to  Mr.  Lee,  to  whom  it  is  a  source  of  peculiar  umbrage.  .  .  . 
On  the  whole,  the  surprising  fact  in  connection  with  the  Shakespearean  sonnets 
is  that  conventional  ideas  and  conceits  are  as  few  as  they  are.  His  was  the 
largest  Elizabethan  collection  of  love-sonnets;  yet  no  contemporary  collection 
of  a  quarter  the  size  exists  in  which  there  will  not  be  found  many  more  con- 
ceits and  conventionalities.  The  eternal  tears  and  sighs  of  the  lover,  his  despair, 
his  long-continued  dying  for  the  sake  of  the  beloved,  the  elsewhere  omni- 
present alternate  fire  and  ice  of  the  lover's  passion  and  his  fears,  the  hackneyed 
classical  allusions,  these  receive  no  countenance  from  Sh.  He  alone  was  never 
caught  in  the  net  of  his  lady's  hair  or  imprisoned  in  her  eyes;  we  have  no  evi- 
dence from  him  that  she  was  ever  sick,  or  that  she  lived  beside  a  river;  she  is 
not  shown  to  us  in  similes  of  jewels  or  precious  stones.  One  reading  Sh.'s 
sonnets  by  themselves  is  likely  to  be  unduly  sensitive  to  the  conceits  that  are 
to  be  found  there,  but  one  reading  them  after  acquaintance  with  the  work  of 
his  contemporaries  is  continually  surprised  by  the  absence  of  the  well-known 
and  expected  phraseology.  .  .  . 

It  had  become  the  universally  accepted  superstition  of  the  sonneteers,  even 
as  of  the  modern  novel,  that  romantic  love  is  not  only  the  chief  blessing  of 
earthly  existence,  but  that  it  is  actually  the  be-all  and  end-all.  Sadness,  sorrow, 
and  even  death,  appear  only  as  experiences  connected  with  love  between  the 
sexes.  For  the  typical  Petrarchist  to  have  repined  for  any  other  cause  than  the 
loss  of  his  mistress  would  have  seemed  a  kind  of  sacrilege.  In  Sh.  all  this  is 
changed.  The  misfortunes  of  life  are  given  their  true  place  as  results  from  many 
causes.  In  S.  29  the  poet's  sorrow  arises  from  his  self-doubt,  recognition  of  his 
"disgrace  with  fortune  and  men's  eyes,"  "desire  for  this  man's  art  and  that 
man's  scope";  in  S.  30  he  beweeps  "precious  friends  hid  in  death's  dateless 
night";  in  S.  66  he  contemplates  with  bitterness  the  injustice  of  human  life; 
and  in  each  case  the  thought  of  his  friend's  love  comes  to  him  as  a  consolation. 
What  could  be  more  completely  opposed  to  the  usual  sonneteering  conventions? 


4i6  APPENDIX 

To  the  Petrarchist,  however  great  the  real  joys  with  which  he  is  surrounded, 
love  is  sufficient  to  spoil  them  all  and  turn  them  into  sentimental  sorrow;  to 
Sh.,  however  great  the  real  sorrow,  his  love  is  sufficient  to  mitigate  it  and  bring 
consolation.  Likeness  to  these  three  sonnets  will  be  sought  in  vain  among  all  the 
other  Renaissance  sonneteers,  excepting  again  Michelangelo.  And  if  ever 
poetry  carried  in  its  features  the  indubitable  marks  of  genuine  emotion,  these 
three  sonnets  of  Sh.,  and  a  dozen  others  in  only  a  slightly  less  degree,  are  among 
the  noblest  witnesses  of  that  power  in  ours  or  any  language.  .  .  . 

Sh.'s  superiority  to  his  sonneteering  predecessors  and  contemporaries  lies 
therefore  not  only  in  his  unmatchable  technique,  but  also  in  the  greater  truth 
and  depth  of  his  attitude  toward  life.  His  sonnets  show  us  feelings  that  are 
convincing  and  intensely  human;  we  have  in  them  a  pre-eminent  example  of 
imaginative  sincerity. 

("The  Sincerity  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets,"  Modern  Philology,  8:  100-06.) 

J.  W.  Mackail:  Those  who  profess  to  find  in  the  Sonnets  a  body  of  meta- 
physical doctrine;  those  who  extract  from  them,  with  as  much  violence  to  psy- 
chology as  to  the  rules  of  evidence  or  to  common  propriety,  a  Procopian  Secret 
History  of  Sh.'s  own  life;  those  who  argue  that  they  are  mere  literary  exercises 
on  a  conventional  theme;  all  at  least  agree  that  they  are  an  unequalled  master- 
piece of  imaginative  power,  of  psychological  skill  and  pictorial  vision,  of  mas- 
tery in  rhythm  and  phrase.  They  combine,  with  a  perfection  of  which  Sh.  alone 
had  the  secret,  the  most  sumptuous  richness  with  the  most  direct  simplicity. 
Beside  them  the  whole  of  that  mass  of  Elizabethan  sonnet-literature  of  which 
they  are  the  crown  grows  pale,  mannered,  and  thin.  Here  all  is  at  a  higher 
power;  it  is  poetic  quality  distilled  and  concentrated.  That  this  quality  is 
mixed  with  the  conceits  and  mannerisms  of  the  age  is  true,  as  it  is  true  of  all 
Sh.'s  work  even  at  its  finest,  as  it  is  true  of  Much  Ado  or  of  Hamlet.  This  must 
be  allowed  and  even  emphasized  if  we  are  to  keep  our  feeling  for  Sh.  sane,  and 
on  this  side  idolatry.  It  is  true  too  that  in  some  of  the  Sonnets  Sh.  is  sounding 
on  a  dim  and  perilous  way;  of  this  he  has  given,  in  words  which  I  have  already 
quoted  [from  S.  121],  his  own  vindication. 

The  concentration  of  poetry  in  the  Sonnets  is  so  great,  its  sweetness  so  con- 
densed, that  we  can  only  appreciate  it  fully  through  a  sort  of  process  of  separa- 
tion and  dilution.  .  .  .  "Roses,  damask  and  red,"  says  Bacon  in  his  Essay 
of  Gardens,  "are  fast  flowers  of  their  smells,  so  that  you  may  walk  by  a  whole 
row  of  them  and  find  nothing  of  their  sweetness."  They  must  be  approached 
closely  and  singly,  if  their  "royal  scent"  is  to  produce  its  full  effect.  .  .  .  And 
the  only  way  to  appreciate  the  Sonnets  fully  is,  I  think,  to  know  them  by  heart, 
to  become  saturated  with  them,  and  then  to  let  passage  after  passage,  phrase 
after  phrase,  line  after  line,  expand  and  germinate  as  memory  recalls  it,  asso- 
ciation touches  it,  imagination  kindles  it.  Then  an  enhanced  richness,  a  subtler 
grace,  a  more  essential  beauty  will  flash  upon  that  inward  eye  which  is  the 
bliss  of  solitude. 

(Lectures  on  Poetry,  pp.  206-07.) 


THE  TEXTS  OF   1609  AND   1640 

The  Sonnets  Quarto  was  entered  on  the  Stationers'  Register  on  May  20, 1609, 
in  the  following  terms:  "Thomas  Thorpe  Entred  for  his  copie  vnder  th  [h]andes 
of  master  Wilson  and  master  Lownes  Warden  a  Booke  called  Shakespeares 
sonnettes  vjd."  It  was  issued,  as  the  Bibliography  indicates,  with  two  imprints, 
that  of  John  Wright  and  that  of  William  Aspley;  the  text  of  both  are  iden- 
tical. A  single  extant  copy  (now  in  the  Bridgewater  Library)  contains  a  tri- 
fling variant  noted  in  the  textual  notes  for  78,  6;  and  the  extant  copies  also  dif- 
fer in  the  catchword  at  the  bottom  of  folio  F3  recto,  —  circumstances  which, 
as  Sir  Sidney  Lee  observes,  "illustrate  the  common  practice  among  Elizabethan 
printers  of  binding  up  an  uncorrected  sheet,  after  the  sheet  has  been  corrected." 
(Sonnets,  1905,  p.  46m)  The  text  as  given  in  this  quarto  was  reprinted  by 
Lintott  in  1709-10,  by  Steevens  in  1766,  and  by  Malone  (1780  and  1790)  with 
many  corrections.  Its  authority  and  accuracy  remained  practically  undis- 
cussed until  the  19th  century,  and  even  then  were  considered  for  the  most  part 
only  in  connection  with  the  question  whether  Sh.  authorized  the  publication 
and  whether  the  quarto  arrangement  of  the  Sonnets  is  of  significance.  It 
was  for  this  purpose  that  Knight  was  led  to  observe:  "The  edition  of  1609,  al- 
though, taken  as  a  whole,  not  very  inaccurate,  is  full  of  those  typographical 
errors  which  invariably  occur  when  a  manuscript  is  put  into  the  hands  of  a 
printer  to  deal  with  it  as  he  pleases,  without  reference  to  the  author,  or  to  any 
competent  editor,  upon  any  doubtful  points.  Malone,  in  a  note  upon  the  77th 
Sonnet,  very  truly  says,  '  This,  their,  and  thy  are  so  often  confounded  in  these 
Sonnets,  that  it  is  only  by  attending  to  the  context  that  we  can  discover  which 
was  the  author's  word.'  He  is  speaking  of  the  original  edition.  It  is  evident, 
therefore,  that  in  the  progress  of  the  book  through  the  press  there  was  no  one 
capable  of  deciphering  the  obscurity  of  the  manuscript  by  a  regard  to  the  con- 
text. The  .manuscript,  in  all  probability,  was  made  up  of  a  copy  of  copies; 
so  that  the  printer  even  was  not  responsible  for  those  errors  which  so  clearly 
show  the  absence  of  a  presiding  mind  in  the  conduct  of  the  printing."  (Pic- 
torial Sh.,  6:  486.)  In  comparatively  recent  times  the  same  line  of  argument 
was  developed  by  Rolfe,  with  special  emphasis  on  the  printing  of  S.  126  (see 
the  commentary). 

Staunton,  in  connection  with  his  heroic  efforts  to  correct  the  Sh.  text  in 
general,  gave  attention  to  the  Sonnets,  and,  when  presenting  his  emendations, 
remarked:  "The  Sonnets  carry  all  the  appearance  of  having  been  put  in  type 
from  copy  much  damaged,  and  in  many  places  illegible.  This  would  be  the 
natural  condition  of  writings  which  had  been  copied  and  re-copied  for  a  dozen 
years.  ...  At  the  same  time,  they  do  not  appear  to  have  been  sent  to  press 
without  examination  by  a  qualified  person.    The  metrical  arrangement  is  re- 


418  APPENDIX 

markably  free  from  error,  and  it  would  seem  as  if  the  editor  had  taken  some 
pains  to  supply  the  deficiencies  of  the  MS.  in  other  respects.  .  .  .  [The  mis- 
prints] are  seldom  utterly  nonsensical,  or  absolutely  negligible,  like  the  blunders 
of  a  stupid  or  negligent  typographer,  but  the  true  expression,  or  what  we  may 
suppose  to  have  been  so,  is  superseded  by  another,  more  or  less  resembling  it 
in  form."  (Athenaum,  Jan.  3,  1874,  p.  20.)  Dowden  gave  comparatively  little 
attention  to  the  text;  he  observes,  however,  that  the  quarto,  "though  not 
carelessly  printed,  is  far  less  accurate  than  V.  &  A."  taking  this  to  be  evidence 
that  it  had  "neither  the  superintendence  nor  the  consent  of  the  author." 
(Intro.,  p.  13.)  Tyler's  statement  is  that  "the  book  is  not  printed  quite  so 
accurately  as  was  possible  at  the  time,  but  still  it  is  printed  fairly  well.  It  is 
pretty  evident  that  Sh.  did  not  correct  successive  proofs,"  but  one  need  not  go 
so  far  as  to  think  it  impossible  that  he  furnished  the  MS.   (Intro.,  pp. 

136-37.) 

It  was  reserved  for  Wyndham,  in  his  edition  of  the  Poems,  to  undertake  the 
vindication  of  the  quarto  text.  In  particular,  he  maintains  that  the  printer's 
use  of  capitals  and  italics  was  much  less  erratic  than  has  been  generally  as- 
sumed, a  matter  of  some  importance  for  particular  passages  (see  commentary, 
notes  on  1,  2;  20,  7;  125,  13).  Capitals,  for  instance,  are  used  for  personal 
appellations,  terms  of  foreign  extraction,  titles  of  dignity,  personifications, 
names  of  arts  and  sciences,  of  animals  and  plants  used  emblematically  or  typi- 
cally, etc.  All  this  goes  to  show  "that  the  Quarto  was  not  carelessly  issued,  and 
to  defeat  many  conclusions  drawn  from  the  opposite  assumption."  The  same 
thing  is  true  of  the  punctuation:  allowing  for  stops  placed,  contrary  to  modern 
usage,  to  mark  rhythmical  or  rhetorical  pauses,  and  for  a  number  of  cases  of 
transposition,  "the  remainder  of  error  to  be  accounted  for  by  careless  editing 
is  by  no  means  abnormal.  On  the  other  hand,  in  many  instances  the  punctua- 
tion is  so  exquisitely  adapted  to  the  sense,  rhetoric,  and  rhythm  of  the  phrase 
as  to  confirm  my  plea  for  the  authority  of  the  text."  The  use  of  the  apostrophe 
as  a  guide  to  the  metrical  pronunciation,  i.e.,  when  a  syllable  is  not  to  be  sounded , 
gives  further  support  to  this  claim.  "Having  considered  every  case  in  which  a 
word  imports  an  extra  syllable  into  a  line,  I  can  find  but  two  in  which  the 
Quarto  can  be  said  with  any  certainty  to  err,"  viz.,  104,  10-12  and  124,  2-4. 
On  the  opposite  side  may  be  set  the  following  errors,  certain  or  probable:  the 
repetition  in  146,  2;  the  repetition  in  34,  10-12;  the  want  of  rhyme  in  25,  9-1 1 ; 
the  repetition  of  36,  13-14  and  96,  13-14;  the  occasional  confusion  of  "their" 
with  "thy";  the  seeming  deficiency  in  S.  126;  together  with  "some  half-dozen 
of  trifling  misprints."  Wyndham's  conclusion  is  that  "the  number  of  un- 
doubted corruptions  is  so  small  as  to  be  negligible."    (Intro.,  p.  268.) 

To  this  argument  Beeching  replies.  As  to  punctuation:  in  order  to  main- 
tain Wyndham's  thesis  "it  is  not  sufficient  to  show  .  .  .  that  occasionally  the 
punctuation  is  admirable;  ...  it  is  necessary  also  to  show  that  in  no,  or  very 
few,  cases  is  the  punctuation  unintelligent  or  absurd.  Such  cases,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  are  not  infrequent."  (Cf.  16,  10;  39,  7-8;  55,  7-8;  99,  2-5;  113,  13; 
117,  10;  118,  9-10;  126,  7-8.)  As  to  corruptions  in  the  text,  and  "trifling  mis- 


THE  TEXTS  OF   1609  AND   1640  419 

prints,"  Wyndham's  list  is  far  too  short;  cf.  12,  4;  39,  12;  40,  7;  41,  8;  44,  13; 
51,  10;  54,  14;  56,  13;  58,  io-ii;  65,  12;  69,  3;  73,  4;  76,  7;  91,  9;  99,  9;  102,  8; 
106, 12;  108,3;  ii3»6;  127,9;  129,9-11;  144,6.  Comparing  the  texts  of  V.  &A. 
and  Lucrece,  which  Sh.  saw  through  the  press,  we  find  there  but  three  misprints 
in  each  (not  reckoning  eccentricities  of  spelling).  (Intro.,  pp.  lix-lxiii.)  The 
same  position  is  maintained  by  Lee,  in  his  careful  account  of  the  Quarto  text 
in  the  introduction  to  the  Clarendon  Press  facsimile  edition  (1905).  To  the  list 
of  errors  enumerated  by  Beeching  he  adds  those  in  23,  14;  28,  14;  47,  11 ;  77,  10; 
88,  1;  90,  11;  96,  11;  112,  14;  132,  2;  132,  9;  140,  13;  152,  13;  153,  14;  besides 
many  instances  of  unintelligent  and  unusual  spelling.  "The  substitution,  fif- 
teen times,  of  their  for  thy  or  thine  [see  list  in  note  on  26,  12],  and  once  of  there 
for  thee  [31,  8],  even  more  forcibly  illustrates  the  want  of  intelligent  apprehen- 
sion of  the  subject-matter  of  the  poems  on  the  part  of  those  who  saw  the  volume 
through  the  press.  Few  works  are  more  dependent  for  their  due  comprehension 
on  the  correct  reproduction  of  the  possessive  pronouns,  and  the  frequent  re- 
currence of  this  form  of  error  is  very  damaging  to  the  reputation  of  the  text. 
.  .  .  The  like  want  of  care,  although  of  smaller  moment,  is  apparent  in  the  fre- 
quent substitution  of  the  preposition  to  for  the  adverbial  too  (38,  3;  61,  14;  74, 
12;  83,  7;  86,  2;  the  reverse  mistake  appears  in  135,  2).  At  least  thrice  were  is 
confused  with  wear  (77,  1;  98,  II;  140,  5)."  There  are  also  a  number  of  errors 
in  the  catchwords  at  the  bottom  of  the  page.  "  Punctuation  shows,  on  the  whole, 
no  more  systematic  care  than  other  features  of  composition.  Commas  are 
frequent,  both  in  and  out  of  place.  At  times  they  stand  for  a  full  stop.  At 
times  they  are  puzzlingly  replaced  by  a  colon  or  semicolon,  or  again  they  are 
omitted  altogether.  Brackets  are  occasionally  used  as  a  substitute  for  commas 
[cf.  57,  6;  58,  5;  71,  9-10;  80,  11],  but  not  regularly  enough  to  justify  a  belief 
that  they  were  introduced  on  a  systematic  plan."  Both  capital  letters  and 
italic  type  "appear  rarely  and  at  the  compositor's  whim."  Lee's  conclusion 
is  that  the  text  of  the  quarto  fully  confirms  the  belief  "that  the  enterprise 
lacked  authority,  and  was  pursued  throughout  in  that  reckless  spirit  which  in- 
fected publishing  speculations  of  the  day."    (Intro.,  pp.  40-48.) 

In  his  note  on  the  text  of  the  Sonnets  as  issued  in  the  Stratford  Town  Shake- 
speare (1907),  Bullen  observes:  "While  I  wholly  dissent  from  Mr.  Wynd- 
ham's view  that  Sh.  authorised  and  superintended  the  publication,  I  cannot 
agree  with  Canon  Beeching  that  the  1609  Sonnets  is  exceptionally  ill-printed. 
Errors  there  are,  but  they  are  generally  of  trifling  import."  (10:  448.)  He 
adds  that  a  number  of  the  errors  in  Lee's  list  may  be  regarded  as  fairly  normal 
variants  of  spelling. 

Beyond  these  arguments  there  does  not  seem  to  be  much  prospect  of  ad- 
vancing. In  general,  it  may  be  said  with  assurance  that  Wyndham's  view  of 
the  quarto  text  has  not  proved  tenable,  and  that  most  critics  would  stand,  on 
the  whole,  with  Beeching  and  Lee.  To  this  there  are  two  exceptions  deserving 
of  notice,  though  the  critics  in  question  have  not  discussed  in  detail  the  evi- 
dence under  consideration.  Mr.  Percy  Simpson,  in  his  useful  book  on  Shake- 
spearean Punctuation  (191 1),  includes  the  original  texts  of  the  Sonnets  and 


420  APPENDIX 

other  poems  together  with  matter  relating  primarily  to  the  First  Folio  of  the 
plays,  —  a  work  published,  of  course,  under  very  different  conditions  from 
the  quarto  of  1609.  The  method  followed  by  Simpson  is  to  infer,  by  induction, 
a  general  rule  as  to  the  practice  of  Shakespeare's  printers,  —  such  as  that  the 
comma  may  be  used  to  indicate  a  purely  metrical  pause,  or  that  it  may  be 
omitted  after  a  noun  in  the  vocative,  —  and  to  note  characteristic  examples. 
There  is  no  question  of  the  utility  of  his  work,  especially  if  we  confine  our- 
selves to  a  single  volume,  like  the  Folio,  presumably  made  up  under  a  single 
group  of  compositors  and  correctors;  and  it  may  also  be  admitted  without 
hesitation  that  he  has  given  a  needed  warning  against  the  prevalent  assumption 
that  Elizabethan  printers,  in  general,  distributed  marks  of  punctuation  with 
wholly  erratic  —  and  consequently  negligible  —  abandon.  Nevertheless,  it 
still  remains  necessary  to  prove,  for  any  given  piece  of  printing,  that  it  was  care- 
fully composed ;  and  the  fallacy  in  a  number  of  Simpson's  inferences  is  similar 
to  that  noted  by  both  Beeching  and  Lee  in  the  case  of  Wyndham.  We  may 
properly  note,  in  explanation  of  an  otherwise  mysterious  capital  letter,  that 
the  printer  often  used  a  capital  for  a  personification  or  for  a  technological 
term;  but  this  raises  no  presumption  that  he  did  so  with  authoritative  con- 
sistency, provided  one  finds  many  such  words  left  without  capitals.  We  may 
explain  a  comma  on  the  ground  that  it  marks  a  merely  metrical  pause,  but  this 
has  no  significance  for  the  value  of  the  punctuation  of  the  text  as  a  whole,  if 
it  turns  out  that  this  is  not  done  with  any  degree  of  regularity.  And  no  such 
regularity  has  been  shown,  by  Simpson  any  more  than  by  Wyndham,  for  the 
quarto  of  1609.  The  second  notable  instance  of  devotion  to  the  quarto  text  is 
Miss  Porter's  "First  Folio"  edition  of  the  Sonnets.  There  can  be  no  objec- 
tion to  the  publisher's  extending  the  title  of  this  edition  to  cover  the  poems, 
assuming  that  it  was  desired  to  include  the  whole  text  of  Shakespeare;  nor 
would  it  be  fair  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  the  editor  carelessly  reprints  the 
explanatory  notes  (p.  xxiv)  in  the  same  form  in  which  they  appear  for  the 
plays,  beginning  with  the  statement  that  the  text  is  that  of  the  "First  Folio, 
1623."  These  details,  however,  are  more  or  less  significant  of  the  fact  that 
Miss  Porter  carries  over  her  reverence  for  the  Folio  text,  apparently  without 
pausing  for  inquiry  or  reasoning,  to  that  of  the  Sonnets  quarto.  Her  only 
statement  regarding  the  authority  of  the  latter  is  that  "the  poet  had  nothing 
to  do  with  the  publication"  (with  proof,  borrowed  without  acknowledgment 
from  Rolfe,  based  on  S.  126) ;  but  she  commonly  treats  the  eccentric  printings  of 
the  edition  as  of  almost  mystical  importance,  —  with  what  results  many  of  the 
notes  cited  in  the  commentary  sufficiently  indicate.  On  the  other  hand,  stu- 
dents of  the  Sonnets  are  grateful  for  the  careful  reprint  of  the  original  text 
to  which  this  devotion  gave  rise. 

There  remains  a  single  additional  matter  which  may  be  noted  in  connection 
with  the  quarto  of  1609.  Von  Mauntz  is  the  only  editor  of  the  Sonnets  who  has 
found  any  significance  in  the  head-pieces  which  appear  on  the  title-page  and 
the  first  page  of  the  text.  He  assumes,  apparently,  that  they  were  made  for  the 
particular  volume,  and  is  disposed  to  connect  the  design  of  the  three  inverted 


THE  TEXTS  OF  1609  AND   1640  421 

fishes  on  the  title-page  with  the  three  gold  fishes  in  the  arms  of  the  Lucy  family; 
this,  with  the  hares  and  other  animal  figures,  may  involve  an  allusion  to  the 
traditional  poaching  episode  of  Sh.'s  youth.  The  design  on  the  page  containing 
the  first  sonnets  is  more  difficult  to  interpret;  but  Von  Mauntz  is  tempted  to 
discern  a  pair  of  woodcocks  on  either  side,  and  the  amputated  leg  of  a  fowl 
(with  three  claws)  at  the  right  of  the  lower  center;  the  inference  is  that  there 
may  be  a  satiric  allusion  to  the  poet's  defeated  hopes.  {Gedichte  von  W.  Sh., 
p.  153.)  It  is  only  just  to  add  that  Von  Mauntz  himself  marks  this  conjecture 
with  both  an  exclamation  point  and  a  mark  of  interrogation.  Having  asked  the 
opinion  of  Mr.  Alfred  W.  Pollard  on  this  matter  of  the  head-pieces,  I  find  that 
he  confirms  the  natural  supposition  that  they  are  stock-designs,  in  no  way  to 
be  associated  with  the  particular  volume  in  question.  "  I  have  only  been  able," 
Mr.  Pollard  writes,  "to  look  up  ten  volumes  printed  by  Eld  before  1609.  In 
three  of  these  I  have  found  an  earlier  version  of  the  three-fishes  headpiece,  in 
which  the  centre  agrees,  but  the  amoretti  are  leaning  back  instead  of  forwards. 
.  .  .  The  other  design,  which  the  Baconians  usually  interpret  as  two  A's,  is  one 
of  the  commonest  of  headpieces,  and  there  are  many  variations  of  it." 

The  first  collected  edition  of  Sh.'s  Poems  appeared  in  1640,  with  the  imprint 
of  John  Benson  (see  the  Bibliography  for  full  title,  etc.;  and  for  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  Sonnets  as  found  in  it,  see  p.  434).  Benson's  address  "To  the 
Reader"  is  as  follows:  " I  here  presume  (under  favour)  to  present  to  your  view, 
some  excellent  and  sweetely  composed  Poems,  of  Master  William  Shakespeare, 
Which  in  themselves  appeare  of  the  same  purity,  the  Authour  himselfe  then 
living  avouched;  they  had  not  the  fortune  by  reason  of  their  Infancie  in  his 
death,  to  have  the  due  accomodation  of  proportionable  glory,  with  the  rest 
of  his  everliving  Workes,  yet  the  lines  of  themselves  will  afford  you  a  more 
authentick  approbation  than  my  assurance  any  way  can,  to  invite  your  allow- 
ance, in  your  perusall  you  shall  finde  them  Seren,  cleere  and  eligantly  plaine,  such 
gentle  straines  as  shall  recreate  and  not  perplexe  your  braine,  no  intricate  or 
cloudy  stuffe  to  puzzell  intellect,  but  perfect  eloquence,  such  as  will  raise  your 
admiration  to  his  praise:  this  assurance  I  know  will  not  differ  from  your  ac- 
knowledgement. And  certaine  I  am,  my  opinion  will  be  seconded  by  the  suf- 
ficiency of  these  ensuing  Lines;  I  have  been  somewhat  solicitus  to  bring  this 
forth  to  the  perfect  view  of  all  men;  and  in  so  doing,  glad  to  be  serviceable 
for  the  continuance  of  glory  to  the  deserved  Author  in  these  his  Poems." 

Lee  comments  on  this  volume  as  follows:  "The  volume  came  from  the 
press  of  Thomas  Cotes,  the  printer  who  was  at  the  moment  the  most  experi- 
enced of  any  in  the  trade  in  the  production  of  Shakespearean  literature.  Cotes 
had  bought  in  1627  and  1630  the  large  interests  in  Sh.'s  plays  which  had 
belonged  respectively  to  Isaac  Jaggard  and  Thomas  Pavier.  He  printed  the 
Second  Folio  of  1632  and  a  new  edition  of  Pericles  in  1635.  .  .  .  But,  closely 
associated  as  the  Poems  of  1640  were,  through  the  printer  Cotes,  with  the  cur- 
rent reissues  of  Sh.'s  works,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  Benson  depended 
on  Thorpe's  printed  volume  in  his  confused  impression  of  the  sonnets.    The 


422  APPENDIX 

word  'sonnets,'  which  loomed  so  large  in  Thorpe's  edition,  finds  no  place  in 
Benson's.  In  the  title-pages,  in  the  head-lines,  and  in  the  publisher's  'Adver- 
tisement,' Benson  calls  the  contents  'poems'  or  'lines.'  He  avows  no  knowl- 
edge of  '  Shakespeares  Sonnets.'  Thorpe's  dedication  to  Mr.  W.  H.  is  ignored. 
The  order  in  which  Thorpe  printed  the  sonnets  is  disregarded.  .  .  .  The  varia- 
tions from  Thorpe's  text,  though  not  for  the  most  part  of  great  importance, 
are  numerous.  .  .  .  Benson's  text  seems  based  on  some  amateur  collection  of 
pieces  of  manuscript  poetry,  which  had  been  in  private  circulation.  His  pref- 
ace implies  that  the  sonnets  and  poems  in  his  collection  were  not  among  those 
which  he  knew  Sh.  to  have  'avouched'  (i.e.  publicly  acknowledged)  in  his 
lifetime.  By  way  of  explaining  their  long  submergence,  he  hazards  a  guess  that 
they  were  penned  very  late  in  the  dramatist's  life.  John  Warren,  who  con- 
tributes new  commendatory  lines  ('Of  Mr.  William  Shakespear')  for  Benson's 
edition,  writes  of  the  sonnets  as  if  the  reader  was  about  to  make  their  ac- 
quaintance for  the  first  time.   He  says  of  them  that  they 

Will  make  the  learned  still  admire  to  see 
The  Muses'  gifts  so  fully  infused  on  thee. 

The  theory  that  the  publisher  Benson  sought  his  copy  elsewhere  than  in  Thorpe 's 
treasury  is  supported  by  other  considerations.  Sonnets  138  and  144,  which  take 
the  31st  and  32nd  places  respectively  in  Benson's  volume,  ignore  Thorpe's 
text,  and  follow  that  of  Jaggard's  Passionate  Pilgrim  (1599  or  1612).  The  omis- 
sion of  eight  sonnets  tells  the  same  tale.  ...  It  is  difficult  to  account  for  [their 
exclusion]  except  on  the  assumption  that  Benson's  compiler  had  not  discovered 
them."    {Sonnets,  1905,  pp.  55~58-) 

These  arguments  of  Lee  are  in  themselves  plausible,  but  a  comparison  of 
the  exact  texts  of  Benson's  volume  and  Thorpe's  quarto  soon  showed  me  that 
the  former  was  unquestionably  printed  from  the  latter.  For  the  detailed  evi- 
dence, see  my  article  in  Modern  Philology,  vol.  14  (May,  1916).  This  may  be 
summarized  by  the  statement  that,  despite  many  differences,  the  general 
effect  is  that  of  a  fairly  close  following,  in  the  details  of  spelling,  punctuation, 
and  typography,  of  the  text  of  1609.  In  the  case  of  italicized  words  —  the  item 
least  likely  to  be  dependent  on  MS.  copy  —  there  is  not  a  single  instance  of 
divergence;  in  the  matters  of  capitalization,  punctuation,  and  spelling,  differ- 
ences are  not  infrequent,  but  are  far  too  few  to  be  accounted  for  by  an  inde- 
pendent copy.  As  to  the  printing  of  Sonnets  138  and  144  from  the  text  of  the 
Passionate  Pilgrim,  they  were  the  first  poems  in  that  collection,  and  so  the  first 
to  be  chosen  for  reprinting  in  Benson's  volume;  the  contents  of  the  Pilgrim 
volume  were,  in  general,  inserted  in  their  original  order.  As  to  the  remarks  in 
Benson's  Preface,  they  must  be  regarded  as  deliberately  intended  to  deceive; 
the  book  was  made  by  reprinting  the  contents  of  three  or  four  volumes  issued 
some  thirty  years  before,  but  purchasers  were  to  be  led  to  think  that  the 
material  in  it  was  new.  The  only  piece  of  evidence  offered  by  Lee  in  proof  of 
the  view  that  the  volume  of  1640  was  not  based  on  that  of  1609,  which  presents 
any  difficulty,  is  that  concerning  the  eight  omitted  sonnets.    Of  this  circum- 


THE  TEXTS  OF  1609  AND   1640  423 

stance  I  know  no  wholly  satisfactory  explanation,  though  I  have  made  some 
suggestions  regarding  it  in  the  article  cited  above.  The  upshot  of  all  this  is 
that  the  text  of  1640  is  without  independent  interest  or  authority.  It  corrects 
errors  of  the  quarto  in  something  like  twenty  passages,  and  makes  new  errors 
in  about  fifty  more;  all  these,  of  course,  are  duly  indicated  in  the  textual  notes. 


THE  ARRANGEMENT  OF  THE  SONNETS 

The  volume  of  Poems  of  1640  (see  page  434)  contains  no  discussion  or  ex- 
planation of  the  order  of  the  Sonnets  as  there  reprinted,  nor  did  the  contrasting 
arrangements  of  that  collection  and  the  Quarto  of  1609  attract  special  attention 
in  the  18th  century.  Knight,  in  the  Pictorial  Sh.  (1843),  seems  to  have  been 
the  first  modern  critic  to  propose  a  new  arrangement,  though  he  prints  the 
sonnets  in  the  original  order.  "Believing  as  we  do,"  he  said,  "that  *W.  H.,' 
be  he  who  he  may,  who  put  these  poems  in  the  hands  of  'T.  T.,'  the  publisher, 
arranged  them  in  the  most  arbitrary  manner  (of  which  there  are  many  proofs), 
we  believe  that  the  assumption  of  continuity,  however  ingeniously  it  may  be 
maintained,  is  altogether  fallacious.  ...  It  is  our  intention,  without  at  all  pre- 
suming to  think  that  we  have  discovered  any  real  order  in  which  these  ex- 
traordinary productions  may  be  arranged,  to  offer  them  to  the  reader  upon  a 
principle  of  classification,  which,  on  the  one  hand,  does  not  attempt  to  reject 
the  idea  that  a  continuous  poem,  or  rather  several  continuous  poems,  may  be 
traced  throughout  the  series,  nor  adopt  the  belief  that  the  whole  can  be  broken 
up  into  fragments;  but  which,  on  the  other  hand,  does  no  violence  to  the  mean- 
ing of  the  author  by  a  pertinacious  adherence  to  a  principle  of  continuity,  some- 
times obvious  enough."  (6:  455-56.)  Again:  "The  transpositions  we  have 
made  in  the  arrangement  are  justified  by  the  consideration  that  in. the  original 
text  the  50th,  51st,  and  52nd  Sonnets  are  entirely  isolated;  that  the  27th  and 
28th  are  also  perfectly  unconnected  with  what  precedes  and  what  follows;  that 
the  6 1  st  stands  equally  alone;  and  that  the  43rd,  44th,  and  45th  are  in  a  simi- 
lar position."  (p.  465.)  Both  Knight's  argument  and  his  arrangement  were 
approved,  on  the  whole,  by  Hudson,  in  his  edition  of  1856.  In  the  following 
year,  1857,  Francois  Victor  Hugo  presented  his  translation  in  a  new  arrange- 
ment of  his  own.  In  1859  Cartwright  issued  his  rearrangement,  and  in  1862 
Bodenstedt  his  —  translated  into  German.  Meantime  Delius,  following 
the  original  order  in  his  text,  had  stated  that  that  order  was  the  result  of  mere 
chance,  "for  if  now  and  then  sonnets  treating  the  same  theme  with  variations 
are  placed  together,  on  the  other  hand  sonnets  which  obviously  belong  together, 
or  strike  the  same  note,  are  separated  from  one  another  in  Thorpe's  edition,  and 
a  systematically  maintained  plan  —  according  to  either  content  or  chronology 
—  can  nowhere  be  recognized."  (Works,  2d  ed.,  7:  114.)  It  may,  then,  have 
been  Delius  who  made  the  rearrangement  which  appeared  in  a  German  edition 
of  1864  (see  Bibliography  under  that  date),  in  the  same  year  with  his  revised 
(second)  edition  of  the  standard  text.  Grant  White,  in  his  edition  of  1865, 
asserted  that  except  in  Sonnets  1-17  no  continuity  could  be  discovered.  In 
1866  Massey  issued  his  commentary,  including  an  arrangement  based  on  his 
new  theory  of  the  Sonnets,  and  hence  incommensurable  with  any  other.    In 


THE  ARRANGEMENT  OF  THE  SONNETS       425 

1879  Burgersdijk,  translating  the  Sonnets  into  Dutch,  revised  Bodenstedt's 
order.  In  1881  Stengel  discussed  (Englische  Studien,  4:  1)  the  problem  of 
arrangement,  and  presented  a  new  order  in  which  he  thought  the  poet's  in- 
tention might  be  discerned.  In  the  same  year  appeared  Dowden's  well  made 
edition,  with  a  thorough-going  defence  of  the  Quarto  arrangement,  and  a 
series  of  notes  designed  to  show  the  well-nigh  perfect  continuity  of  the  Son- 
nets, read  in  that  order.  It  was  perhaps  owing  to  this  strengthening  of  the 
conservative  position  that  the  problem  of  arrangement  had  rest  for  more  than 
a  decade. 

In  1892  Shindler  contributed  to  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  (272:  70)  the 
most  cogent  attack  upon  the  Quarto  order  that  had  yet  been  made,  and  showed 
that  to  take  this  position  did  not  imply  the  ability  to  reconstruct  the  original 
order  of  composition;  on  the  contrary,  he  held  that  the  theory  of  one  or  more 
connected  series  of  sonnets  must  be  abandoned,  "and  each  sonnet  left  to  tell  its 
own  story."  His  argument,  severely  condensed,  is  as  follows.  There  is  abun- 
dant evidence  that  the  Quarto  was  not  published  under  Sh.'s  authority  or 
direction.  If  it  is  a  piratical  publication,  it  is  possible  that  it  includes  a  number 
of  sonnets  not  Sh.'s,  and  highly  probable  that  it  does  not  by  any  means  include 
all  the  sonnets  he  wrote;  he  wrote  sonnets,  as  Meres's  remark  about  "his  private 
friends"  would  indicate,  to  many  persons,  and  Thorpe  published  whatever  he 
could  lay  hands  on,  without  reference  to  the  person  addressed.  The  disorder 
of  the  Quarto  "is  not  absolute  chaos;  there  are  signs  of  continuity,  there  are 
numbers  which  clearly  stand  together,  but  the  breaks  and  gaps,  the  omissions 
and  the  wrong  arrangements,  are  just  as  clear.  .  .  .  Thorpe,  left  without  any 
help  from  the  author,  could  only  print  the  Sonnets  just  as  they  stood  in  his 
MS.  Those  that,  either  in  books  or  on  sheets  of  paper,  stood  together,  he 
printed  together,  and  so  produced  those  traces  of  orderly  arrangement  which 
we  see."  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  many  evidences  of  displacement.  "The 
confusion  of  Sonnets  33-35  and  40-42  with  69-70  ought  to  be  enough  of  itself 
to  show  that  the  hypothesis  of  a  single  series  chronologically  arranged  is  al- 
together untenable."  "39  probably,  and  certainly  26  and  27,  belong  to  the 
series  of  Absence  Sonnets,  which  begins  with  43  and  concludes  with  52,  and  the 
right  position  of  the  two  latter  is  probably  after  51.  And  this  sequence,  from 
43  to  52,  is  rudely  interrupted  by  49,  which  is  manifestly  out  of  place."  In  the 
Rival  Poet  group  (76-86)  77  and  81  are  intrusions.  In  the  sonnets  after  126 
"the  traces  of  order  are  fewer  and  we  have  almost  utter  chaos."  All  this  should 
discourage  dogmatism.  "The  same  cause  which  makes  the  arrangement  wrong 
will  prevent  us  from  ever  putting  it  right." 

Lee's  Life  of  Sh.  (1898)  restated  the  argument  against  the  order  of  the  Q. 
"Fantastic  endeavours  have  been  made  to  detect  in  the  original  arrangement  a 
closely  connected  narrative,  but  the  thread  is  on  any  showing  constantly  inter- 
rupted. .  .  .  The  choice  and  succession  of  topics  in  each  '  group '  give  to  neither 
genuine  cohesion.  ...  In  tone  and  subject-matter  numerous  sonnets  in  the 
second  as  in  the  first '  group '  lack  visible  sign  of  coherence  with  those  they  im- 
mediately precede  or  follow.  .  .  .  There  remains  the  historic  fact  that  readers 


426  APPENDIX 

and  publishers  of  the  17th  century  acknowledged  no  sort  of  significance  in  the 
order  in  which  the  poems  first  saw  the  light.  When  the  sonnets  were  printed 
for  a  second  time  in  1640  —  31  years  after  their  first  appearance  —  they  were 
presented  in  a  completely  different  order."    (pp.  96-100.) 

Undeterred  by  this  agnosticism,  reconstructed  arrangements  of  the  Sonnets 
soon  began  to  reappear.  Von  Mauntz's  German  translation  of  1894  presented 
one;  Butler's  edition  of  1899  another;  Godwin's  discussion  of  1900  a  third. 
(Butler's  rearrangement,  however,  involves  comparatively  few  changes,  and 
he  defended  the  Quarto  order,  on  the  whole,  as  the  only  possible  one  for  the 
presentation  of  a  coherent  story.)  Acheson,  in  his  work  on  Sh.  and  the  Rival  Poet 
(1903).  attacked  the  Quarto  arrangement  on  partially  new  grounds,  and  began 
a  reconstruction,  based  on  a  theory  of  disarranged  sequences  of  20  sonnets  each, 
which  he  has  not  yet  completed  —  or  at  any  rate  made  public.  Mrs.  Stopes, 
in  her  edition  of  1904,  proposed  a  rearrangement  which  she  did  not  profess 
to  find  authoritative,  but  believed  to  be  nearer  the  true  order  than  the  original. 
Meantime  Rolfe,  in  successive  revisions  of  his  edition,  became  increasingly 
emphatic  in  distrusting  the  Quarto  order;  see  his  note  on  Sonnet  70,  in  the  com- 
mentary, for  the  impossibility  of  reading  it  consistently,  in  the  given  order, 
with  33-35  and  40-42.  "One  broken  link,"  he  adds,  "spoils  the  chain;  if  the 
order  of  the  poems  is  wrong  here,  it  may  be  so  elsewhere." 

The  most  important  recent  editorial  discussion  and  rearrangement  is  that 
of  Walsh,  in  his  edition  of  1908.  "Thorpe's  arrangement  Of  the  sonnets,"  he 
says,  "is  as  poor  as  could  be  expected  of  a  purloiner  who  published  stolen  goods 
without  a  title,  without  a  preface,  without  a  note,  but  with  innumerable  mis- 
prints and  with  two  misstatements  in  the  little  information  he  did  vouchsafe 
to  give.  We  need  not  hesitate  to  pronounce  it  worthless.  It  is  neither  chrono- 
logical nor  according  to  subjects.  It  opens  with  the  longest  of  the  possible 
groups  of  sonnets,  and  so  at  the  start  conveys  the  impression  of  orderliness  — 
a  clever  trick,  which  has  deceived  most  of  the  subsequent  editors.  .  .  .  But  after 
this  group  there  is  a  breaking  up  and  a  scattering.  Occasionally  two  or  three 
sonnets  which  obviously  treat  of  the  same  subject  and  of  which  one  is  a  direct 
continuation  of  another  are  brought  into  juxtaposition;  but  these  can  be 
matched  by  others  that  plainly  belong  together  and  are  placed  apart.  Almost 
all  editors  have  complained  of  the  inappropriate  position  of  some  particular 
sonnets.  It  is  strange  they  do  not  admit  unauthoritativeness  in  the  entire  se- 
quence. Yet  nothing  can  be  plainer  than  that  Thorpe's  arrangement  of  the 
sonnets  is  of  no  more  help  to  our  understanding  of  their  development  than  is 
the  Folio-editors'  arrangement  of  the  plays."  (Intro.,  pp.  31-32.)  With  this 
as  a  starting-point,  Walsh  rearranges  them,  not  with  reference  to  some  at- 
tempted reconstruction  of  a  continuous  story,  but  on  the  basis  of  the  usual 
stylistic  evidence  of  chronology  and  the  natural  grouping  suggested  by  sub- 
ject-matter. Professor  H.  D.  Gray  (Publ.  M.  L.  A.,  n.s.,  23:  635n.)  comments 
to  this  effect:  "Mr.  Walsh  considers  each  sonnet  as  a  law  unto  itself,  and  he 
breaks  up  the  obvious  sequences  rather  needlessly.  Still,  one  who  came  to  the 
Sonnets  for  the  first  time  in  his  edition  would,  I  think,  gain  a  truer  impression 


THE  ARRANGEMENT  OF  THE  SONNETS       427 

of  their  meaning  and  value  than  he  would  from  the  Quarto  arrangement." 
In  this  opinion  the  present  editor  concurs.  Gray,  in  the  article  just  cited,  sums 
up  the  question  thus:  "  In  the  face  of  such  facts  as  we  have,  it  seems  odd  that 
the  arrangement  of  the  Sonnets  in  the  Quarto  of  1609  should  ever  have  been 
taken  as  of  any  authority  whatever.  The  Sonnets  were  presumably  written 
at  intervals  during  several  years  and  given  out  in  small  groups  or  singly;  they 
were  copied  and  recopied;  we  know  from  the  Passionate  Pilgrim,  as  well  as 
from  a  preserved  MS.  of  S.  8,  that  there  existed  various  differing  copies;  it  is 
conceded  by  all  that  Sh.  did  not  supervise  nor  authorize  Thorpe's  Quarto  (note 
both  the  errors  and  the  dedication  by  the  publisher) ;  no  one  denies  that  Thorpe 
took  some  liberties  with  the  arrangement,  since  he  removed  to  the  end  those 
Sonnets  that  did  not  apply  to  the  youth;  we  find  in  the  first  series  .  .  .  inno- 
cence attributed  to  the  young  man  after  guilt  has  been  recorded;  we  find  se- 
quences interrupted  by  sonnets  which  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  sonnets 
about  them.  There  can  be  no  real  possibility,  therefore,  that  Thorpe's  collection 
of  manuscripts  could  have  been  supplied  in  their  proper  order  either  by  the 
author  or  by  the  person  to  whom  so  many  of  them  were  addressed."  (p.  630.) 
After  examining  certain  peculiarities  of  the  text  (such  as  the  use  of  "thou" 
and  "you,"  the  misprint  of  "their"  for  "thy,"  and  the  use  of  italics),  Gray 
draws  the  conclusion  "that  various  MSS.  of  sonnet  groups  came  into  Thorpe's 
hands,  some  of  the  MSS.  bearing  characteristics  not  found  in  the  others,  and 
that  Thorpe  seems  not  to  have  disturbed  his  MS.  groups  more  than  was  neces- 
sary to  remove  duplicates  and  to  put  at  the  end  sonnets  which  could  not  be 
read  as  concerned  with  Mr.  W.  H.  Indeed,  the  very  fact  that  every  sonnet 
which  can  be  read  as  addressed  to  the  youth  is  placed  in  the  first  series,  and  that 
no  other  sonnet,  though  dealing  with  the  same  theme,  is  to  be  found  there,  is 
evidence  of  just  such  an  obvious  sorting  out  as  Thorpe  could  and  would  be  re- 
sponsible for."  (p.  634.) 

Turning  now  to  the  argument  in  behalf  of  the  arrangement  of  1609,  we  may 
consider  Charles  Armitage  Brown  to  be  the  first  name  of  note,  since,  in  his 
volume  of  1838,  he  laid  much  stress  on  a  grouping  of  the  Sonnets  designed  to 
make  the  continuity  of  the  standard  text  intelligible.  On  the  whole,  this  group- 
ing may  be  said  still  to  represent  the  orthodox  view  of  the  sonnet  story.  It  is 
as  follows: 

First  Poem.  —  1-26.   To  his  friend,  persuading  him  to  marry. 

Second  Poem.  —  27-55.  To  his  friend  —  who  had  robbed  the  poet  of  his 
mistress  —  forgiving  him. 

Third  Poem.  —  56-77.  To  his  friend,  complaining  of  his  coldness,  and  warn- 
ing him  of  life's  decay. 

Fourth  Poem.  —  78-101.  To  his  friend,  complaining  that  he  prefers  another 
poet's  praises,  and  reproving  him  for  faults  that  may  injure  his  character. 

Fifth  Poem.  —  102-126.  To  his  friend,  excusing  himself  for  having  been  some 
time  silent,  and  disclaiming  the  charge  of  inconstancy. 

Sixth  Poem.  —  127-152.  To  his  mistress,  on  her  infidelity. 
Brown,  however,  admitted  some  disorder  in  the  "sixth  poem."   Furnivall, 


428  APPENDIX 

in  his  introduction  to  the  Leopold  Sh.  (1877),  presented  another  and  more  de- 
tailed outline  of  the  Sonnets,  dividing  the  First  Group  (1-126)  into  fifteen 
sections,  and  the  Second  Group  into  eleven;  but  this  outline  rather  emphasizes 
than  relieves  the  difficulty  of  finding  continuity  in  such  an  analysis.  In  the 
following  year  T.  A.  Spalding,  in  an  article  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine, 
made  a  rather  more  consistent  analysis,  dividing  Sonnets  1-126  into  three 
groups  and  a  number  of  smaller  sections,  interpreted  as  developing  an  intel- 
ligible story. 

Dowden,  as  has  already  appeared,  made  a  new  defence  and  interpretation 
of  the  Quarto  arrangement,  in  his  edition  of  1881.  "That  the  Sonnets  are  not 
printed  in  the  Quarto,  1609,  at  haphazard,"  he  said,  "is  evident  from  the  fact 
that  the  envoy  (126)  is  rightly  placed;  that  poems  addressed  to  a  mistress  follow 
those  addressed  to  a  friend;  and  that  the  two  Cupid  and  Dian  sonnets  stand 
together  at  the  close.  A  nearer  view  makes  it  apparent  that  in  the  first  series, 
1-126,  a  continuous  story  is  conducted  through  various  stages  to  its  termina- 
tion ;  a  more  minute  inspection  discovers  points  of  contact  or  connection  between 
sonnet  and  sonnet,  and  a  natural  sequence  of  thought,  passion,  and  imagery." 
(Intro.,  p.  24.)  He  admits,  however,  that  this  does  not  apply  to  the  series  127- 
154.  The  Quarto  order  seems  also  to  be  confirmed,  he  argues,  by  certain  aspects 
of  the  puzzling  variation  in  the  use  of  the  pronouns  "thou"  and  "you":  "in 
the  first  50  sonnets  'you'  is  of  extremely  rare  occurrence;  in  the  second  50  'you' 
and  'thou'  alternate  in  little  groups  of  sonnets,  'thou'  having  still  a  prepon- 
derance, but  now  only  a  slight  preponderance;  in  the  remaining  26  'you'  be- 
comes the  ordinary  mode  of  address,  and  'thou'  the  exception."  (p.  25.)  This 
argument,  we  may  note  at  once,  is  answered  by  Beeching,  himself  a  believer 
in  the  Quarto  order:  "How  little  dependence  can  be  placed  on  such  an  argument 
is  shown  by  the  fact  that  in  the  sonnets  about  the  Rival  Poet,  which  undoubt- 
edly form  a  series,  sometimes  'thou'  is  used  and  sometimes  'you.'  And  in  face 
of  the  fact  that  97  and  98,  which  are  almost  identical  in  sense,  employ  different 
pronouns,  it  is  impossible  to  discriminate  between  them."    (Intro.,  p.  lxv  n.) 

Since  Dowden's  time  there  has  been  no  thorough-going  defence  of  the  Quarto 
arrangement,  but  its  authority  has  been  assumed,  and  sometimes  explicitly 
sanctioned,  by  a  number  of  editors  and  critics.  Tyler,  in  his  introduction  to 
the  Praetorius  Facsimile  (1886),  observed  that  "it  has  been  assumed  that  the 
order  given  in  the  First  Quarto  is  the  right  order;  and  this  must  certainly  be 
maintained  until  the  contrary  has  been  proved"  (p.  xxvi);  and  he  took  the 
liberty  of  adding  on  the  margins  of  the  facsimile  text  the  captions  "Series  I," 
"Series  II,"  and  "Series  III,"  opposite  Sonnets  1,  127,  and  153  respectively.* 
Gollancz,  in  the  Temple  Sh.  (1896),  went  further  than  almost  any  other  com- 
mentator: "If  it  could  be  proved,"  he  said,  "that  any  one  sonnet  is  out  of 

*  A  liberty  that  has  lately  resulted  in  one  of  the  most  amusing  phenomena  in  the  whole 
mass  of  sonnet  criticism.  Clara  de  Chambrun,  in  her  work  on  the  Sonnets  (1913).  makes  the 
amazing  statement  that  in  th  .•  Thorpe  edition  the  poems  are  "divided  into  three  separate  series 
by  a  note  in  the  margin,"  a  division  which  she  very  truly  adds  "has  never  been  referred  to  by 
any  commentator."  (p.  15.)  In  confirmation  she  reproduces  what  is  called  "a  facsimile  of 
page  57  of  the  Thorpe  edition,"  but  is  really  a  photograph  of  the  Praetorius  facsimile,  including 
one  of  Tyler's  captions  in  modern  lettering  on  the  margin! 


THE  ARRANGEMENT  OF  THE  SONNETS       429 

place,  the  whole  chain  would  perhaps  be  spoilt,  but  no  such  'broken  link'  can 
be  adduced."  (Intro.,  p.  vi.)  Wyndham,  in  his  edition  of  the  Poems  (1898), 
also  represents  an  extreme  position,  since  he  believed  that  the  Quarto  of  1609 
is  a  more  authoritative  publication  than  has  been  generally  supposed :  "  Whether 
or  not  [the  Sonnets]  were  edited  by  Sh.,  [they]  must  so  far  have  commanded  his 
approval  as  to  arouse  no  protest  against  the  form  in  which  they  appeared.  It 
would  have  been  as  easy  for  him  so  to  re-shuffle  and  re-publish  as  it  is  impossible 
to  believe  that  he  could  re-shuffle,  and  re-publish,  and  no  record  of  his  action 
survive."  Wyndham  also  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  all  critics  "  not  quixotically 
compelled  to  reject  a  reasonable  view  are  agreed  that  the  order  in  the  First 
Series  can  scarce  be  bettered."  (Intro.,  p.  cix.)  Herford,  in  the  Eversley  Sh. 
(1900),  took  similar  ground.  "Displacement  maybe  here  and  there  suspected ; 
but  on  the  whole  [the  sonnet  groups]  form  a  connected  sequence,  passing  by 
delicate  gradations  through  a  rich  compass  of  emotion."  (10:  374.)  Beeching, 
in  his  edition  of  1904,  followed  to  the  same  effect:  "Most  modern  critics  are 
agreed  that  at  least  the  first  division  of  the  Sonnets  is  approximately  in  the 
order  intended  by  the  poet"  (Intro.,  p.  lxiii);  on  the  other  hand,  "it  may  very 
well  be  the  case  that  some  few  are  misplaced,"  such  as  36-39,  75,  77,  81,  97-99 
(p.  lxv).  Beeching  adds  two  arguments  wholly  or  partly  new:  the  fact  "that 
some  of  the  sonnets  in  the  appendix  throw  light  on  those  addressed  to  the 
friend,  confirms  the  theory  that  the  sonnets  form  a  sequence  and  are  not  a 
mere  bookseller's  haphazard  collection"  (p.  lxiv);  and  "some  further  con- 
firmation is  afforded  by  the  fact  that  a  printer's  error  of  'their'  for  'thy' 
occurs  14  times  in  the  series  of  sonnets  from  26  to  70  inclusive,  and  only  once 
besides,  viz.  in  128.  (This  last  instance  forbids  us  to  explain  it  by  a  mere  change 
of  compositors.)  S.  26  appears  to  open  a  new  division,  and  71  certainly  opens 
another.  It  looks,  therefore,  as  if  the  printer  has  used  for  this  division  of  the 
sonnets  a  separate  MS.,  less  plainly  written  than  those  he  had  before  him  for 
the  rest,  and  so  it  becomes  almost  certain  that  —  at  any  rate  for  this  section  — 
the  order  of  the  sonnets  was  fixed  when  it  came  into  Thorpe's  hands.  S.  128  may 
very  well  have  been  in  the  same  MS."  (p.  lxv).  The  present  editor  has  elsewhere 
commented  on  this  last  argument  as  follows : ' '  Admitting  the  utmost  which  these 
facts  can  imply,  viz.,  that  the  misreadings  indicate  that  the  MS.  of  the  son- 
nets in  question  was  in  a  different  handwriting  from  later  ones,  we  can  apply 
the  argument  only  to  the  21  sonnets  from  26  to  46  [the  errors  occurring  in  26, 
27,  35,  37,  43,  45,  46];  and  the  recurrence  of  the  error  in  69  and  70,  after  an 
interval  without  it,  suggests  that  we  may  have  come  back  to  the  same  MS., 
and  that  consecutiveness  has  been  lost!"  (Kittredge  Anniversary  Volume,  1913, 
pp.  286-87.) 

Mackail,  in  his  lecture  on  the  Sonnets  (Lectures  on  Poetry,  191 1),  observes: 
"  I  see  no  reason  to  doubt  that  they  were  arranged  by  Sh.,  or  at  all  events  that 
they  left  his  hands,  in  their  present  order,  and  that  this  order  is  substantially 
the  order  of  their  composition.  But  this  belief  is  subject  to  two  reservations: 
in  the  first  place,  those  sonnets  which  constitute  a  consecutive  group  may  have 
been  arranged  by  him  in  an  order  different  from  that  of  the  dates  of  their  writ- 


430  APPENDIX 

ing;  in  the  second  place,  he  may  have  been  working  on  more  than  one  of  those 
groups  contemporaneously.  As  the  Sonnets  extend  over  a  period  of  several 
years,  and  as  different  groups  of  them  were  clearly  sent  to  their  recipient  at 
different  times,  it  was  obviously  possible  either  for  him,  or  for  some  third  person 
into  whose  hands  they  had  come  before  they  went  to  the  printer,  to  alter  the 
arrangement;  but  there  is  no  proof,  and  no  probability,  that  this  was  in  fact 
done."  (pp.  203-04.)  Finally,  a  partial  defender  of  the  Quarto  arrangement  is 
found  in  Brandl,  who,  in  his  introduction  to  Fulda's  translation  of  the  Son- 
nets (1913),  argues:  "The  traditional  order  deserves  a  serious  attempt  to  find 
it  intelligible;  if  it  can  be  maintained,  it  has  —  in  comparison  with  all  free 
attempted  arrangements  —  the  authority  of  the  publisher,  whose  interest  must 
lie/not  in  making  an  error  but  in  avoiding  it.  Nor  need  this  arrangement  dis- 
play the  complete  development  of  its  formation  in  all  details;  it  may  be  a  later 
redaction  by  the  author.  .  .  .  Finally,  it  is  to  be  queried  whether  Francis  Meres 
Would  have  openly  praised  the  friendship  sonnets,  if  they  had  existed  only 
singly  and  in  unintelligible  confusion,  and  not  in  self-explanatory  grouping  — 
in  a  MS.  collection  arranged  for  a  wider  circle  of  friends."  (p.  xv.)  This  ar- 
gument especially  concerns  what  Brandl  finds  to  be  the  chief  series  of  "friend- 
ship sonnets,"  18-74;  on  tne  other  hand,  he  finds  the  "political  sonnets"  to 
be  out  of  chronological  order,  those  of  1603  preceding  at  a  long  interval  those 
of  1601.  (p.  xxii.) 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  an  article  on  this  subject  by  the  present 
editor,  in  the  Kittredge  Anniversary  Volume  (1913).  What  follows  is  substan- 
tially a  reproduction  of  a  portion  of  that  article,  having  chief  concern  with 
the  burden  of  proof  in  the  argument  on  the  Quarto  arrangement.  (See  also, 
with  reference  to  Dowden's  argument  from  the  so-called  "envoy,"  the  notes 
to  S.  126.) 

If  we  should  approach  the  sonnets  without  knowledge  of  their  content,  as 
if  discovering  them  for  the  first  time,  our  first  inquiry  would  naturally  be 
Y  whether  the  collection  appears  on  the  face  of  it  to  be  one  of  the  "sequences "  so 
familiar  in  the  Elizabethan  age.  Of  this  type  of  collection  the  leading  traits  are  ■ 
well  understood.  A  series  of  sonnets  is  addressed  to  a  lady  of  great  beauty,  to 
whom  a  fanciful  name  is  given  (Stella,  Diana,  Idea,  or  the  like),  which  com- 
monly forms  the  title  of  the  whole.  This  lady  is  usually  cold  of  heart,  and  the 
sequence  of  poems  represents  the  successive  efforts  of  the  writer,  her  lover,  to 
win  her  to  yield  to  his  passion.  Turning  to  the  Sh.  Quarto,  we  find  that  the  title- 
page  bears  no  conventional  title;  no  lady's  name  gives  it  a  name;  no  lady's 
name  is  mentioned  within  it.  The  book  is  called  simply  "Sh.'s  Sonnets:  never 
before  imprinted."  It  is  not,  we  may  say  tentatively,  a  conventional  se- 
quence. A  second  approach  will  naturally  be  the  inquiry  whether  the  volume 
appears  to  have  been  published  by  the  author's  authority  or  under  his  super- 
vision. The  discussion  of  this  would  be  an  important  matter,  were  the  facts 
not  all  but  universally  admitted.  The  Quarto  is  dedicated  not  by  the  author 
but  by  the  publisher,  a  well-known  pirate  in  his  trade;  it  contains  numerous 
unintelligent  misprints;  whereas  the  two  poems  which  Sh.  is  known  to  have 


THE  ARRANGEMENT  OF  THE  SONNETS       431 

published  contain  dedications  from  his  hand  and  seem  to  have  been  carefully 
proof-read.  These  are  the  chief  (but  not  the  only)  considerations  which  have  led 
critics  to  agree  on  the  surreptitious  character  of  the  Quarto  of  1609. 

In  1640  appeared  a  new  issue  of  the  Sonnets,  now  printed  in  an  entirely 
different  order,  and  grouped  by  the  editor  with  sub-titles  as  the  text  suggested. 
In  this  edition,  of  course,  there  is  nothing  authoritative;  the  only  significance 
to  be  found  in  its  character  is  negative  —  to  the  effect  that  there  was  no  tra- 
dition implying  a  continuous  or  two-part  text  as  of  1609. 

It  is  clear,  then,  so  far  as  this  preliminary  evidence  goes,  that  the  burden  of 
proof  is  on  any  attempt  to  call  these  sonnets  a  sequence  in  the  usual  meaning  of 
the  term.  If  the  character  of  the  contents,  examined  in  detail,  indicates  a  consec- 
utive and  significant  order,  then  just  to  that  extent  we  may  regard  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  Quarto  as  important;  but  we  have  no  warrant  for  beginning  to  read 
the  collection  with  the  assumption  that  it  is  to  be  interpreted  as  one  interprets  a 
series  of  poems,  much  less  chapters  of  a  story,  set  forth  by  the  author  in  prede- 
termined form.  On  the  contrary,  in  the  absence  of  further  and  conflicting 
evidence,  we  should  expect  to  find  that  we  have  before  us  a  collection  of  all  the 
sonnets  written  by  Sh.,  so  far  as  the  publisher  was  able  to  get  hold  of  them;  —  an 
expectation  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  two  of  the  sonnets  in  the  volume, 
1 38  and  144,  had  been  published  ten  years  earlier  in  another  pirated  collection, 
The  Passionate  Pilgrim. 

But  while  the  sonnets  do  not  appear  to  be  a  sequence  of  the  usual  sort,  they 
may  give  evidence  of  being  an  unconventional  sequence;  that  is,  they  may 
form  a  series,  either  from  having  been  written  in  the  present  order  or  from  hav- 
ing been  carefully  arranged.  This,  if  true,  is  not  to  be  assumed  but  proved. 
Our  next  task  should  be,  therefore,  to  read  the  collection  through  with  a  view 
to  asking,  not  how  far  it  would  be  possible  to  conceive  the  sonnets  to  be  signi- 
ficantly consecutive  if  we  knew  that  they  had  been  put  in  this  order  by  the 
writer,  but  how  far  they  imply  such  consecutiveness  when  we  know  nothing 
of  the  circumstances  of  their  arrangement.  Here,  of  course,  there  is  room  for 
great  diversity  of  judgment.  All  that  can  be  done  here  is  to  set  down  the  re- 
sults of  such  a  reading  as  has  just  been  described,  in  the  attitude  of  one  who 
does  not  disbelieve  in  the  existence  of  a  large  amount  of  continuity,  but  who 
requires  to  see  evidence  of  it  in  the  text.  From  this  standpoint,  apparently 
connected  sonnets,  forming  —  through  contiguity  —  natural  groups,  may  be 
observed  as  follows:  1-17;  18-19;  26-28;  33-35;  40-42;  43-45;  46-47;  50-52; 
54-55;  56-5S;  63-65;  66-68;  69-70;  71-74;  78-80;  82-86;  87-93;  94-96;  97-99; 
100-103;  109-112;  117-120;  123-125;  131-132;  133-134;  135-136;  137-138; 
139-140;  141-142;  143-144;  147-152;  153-154.  It  will  be  understood  that  this 
list  includes  only  those  sonnets  whose  text  seems  to  imply  some  immediate  con- 
nection with  their  immediate  neighbors;  the  omitted  sonnets  being  those  which, 
in  the  absence  of  any  theory  of  sequence,  may  naturally  be  read  as  independent 
compositions,  together  with  some  which  are  most  naturally  associated  with 
others  not  standing  in  contiguity  with  them.  No  two  readers  would  be  likely 
to  reach  identical  results  in  pursuing  such  an  attempt  as  this;  but  there  has  been 


432  APPENDIX 

no  effort  to  make  the  list  as  presented  err  on  the  side  of  discontinuity  (for  ex- 
ample, the  continuity  of  147-152  is  by  no  means  certain).  What  is  the  general 
impression  resulting?  One  considerable  series  has  appeared;  —  and  it  is  proper 
to  add  that  another  might  be  admitted  as  plausible,  formed  by  connecting  all 
the  sonnets  from  109  to  125.  Three  short  series  appear  to  number  respectively 
five,  six,  and  seven  sonnets;  there  are  three  groups  of  four  each;  there  are 
twelve  sonnet  trios,  and  twelve  pairs.  To  an  unbiased  reader  the  result  would 
seem  to  be  in  accord  with  the  hypothesis  already  suggested  by  the  more  external 
evidence,  viz.,  that  the  publisher  of  this  collection  gathered  all  of  Sh.'s  sonnets 
that  he  could  obtain,  in  various  MSS.  —  some  arranged,  some  unarranged,  — 
and  made  an  attempt  to  set  them  in  order.  He  placed  at  the  beginning  of  the 
book  the  longest  obvious  series,  or,  possibly,  the  series  which  he  knew  had  been 
addressed  to  the  person  to  whom  he  wished  to  dedicate  the  volume.  In  other 
cases  his  MS.  furnished  him  with  pairs  and  trios  which  he  preserved  intact;  in 
still  other  cases  he  may  have  made  a  pair  or  a  trio  of  sonnets  which  appeared 
to  be  similar  in  theme  or  tone.  Finally,  observing  that  the  sonnets  plainly 
addressed  to  women  were  in  the  minority,  he  reserved  them  for  the  end  of  the 
collection,  together  with  certain  other  poems  on  independent  topics. 

It  may  be  objected  that  the  want  of  a  clearly  continuous  thread  of  thought 
does  not  prove  the  collection  to  be  inconsecutive;  can  one  trace  such  continuity 
in  any  Elizabethan  sequence?  Probably  not.  But  the  point  in  the  present  case 
is  that  the  burden  of  proof  is  on  those  seeking  to  view  this  collection  as  a  se- 
quence. Moreover,  a  more  detailed  survey  of  the  contents  would  reveal  not 
merely  a  want  of  continuity  but  no  little  evidence  of  discontinuity.  Dowden 
describes  an  Elizabethan  sequence  as  "a  chain  or  series  of  poems,  in  a  designed 
or  natural  sequence,  viewing  in  various  aspects  a  single  theme,  or  carrying  on 
a  love-story  to  its  issue,  prosperous  or  the  reverse."  (Intro.,  p.  26.)  Would  any 
one  examining  these  sonnets  of  Sh.'s  without  a  predetermined  theory  be  led  to 
find  them  within  the  scope  of  this  definition? 

Another  objection  to  this  agnostic  position  may  be  stated  as  follows:  ad- 
mitting that  the  series  is  not  a  sequence  in  the  usual  sense,  this  does  not  pre- 
vent us  from  regarding  the  sonnets  as  standing,  on  the  whole,  in  the  order  of 
Sh.'s  MS.  But  does  this  mean  the  order  of  Sh.'s  original  MS.,  —  that  is,  the 
order  of  composition  —  or  that  of  some  final  MS.  in  which  he  arranged  his 
sonnets?  The  first  alternative  no  one  supposes  to  be  applicable  to  the  whole 
collection,  for  about  the  only  certain  inference  to  be  drawn  from  the  text 
is  that  some  of  the  poems  in  the  "second  series"  were  written  at  the  same  time 
as  some  in  the  "first  series."  The  most  that  is  claimed,  then,  is  that  sonnets 
1-125  are  in  the  original  order,  —  preserved,  perhaps,  among  the  papers  of 
the  person  to  whom  they  are  supposed  to  have  been  addressed.  This  view 
cannot  be  shown  to  be  impossible;  but  it  remains  "not  proven."  And  since 
some  misplacements  are  admitted  by  nearly  all  critics,  how  can  a  limit  be  set? 
If  the  MSS.  of  "  W.  H."  were  once  disarranged,  by  a  wanton  breeze  or  a  careless 
servant,  what  may  not  have  happened?  The  only  answer  is,  that  we  must  fall 
back  on  the  text  as  it  stands.   As  to  the  second  alternative,  that  the  existing 


THE  ARRANGEMENT  OF  THE  SONNETS       433 

order  represents  Sh.'s  wishes  at  the  time  the  sonnets  were  collected,  we  have 
already  seen  what  the  probabilities  are  that  he  made  any  copy  for  the  purpose 
of  publication,  and  it  is  a  pure  assumption  that  he  brought  his  sonnets  into 
one  MS.  for  any  purpose  whatever.  But  even  if  he  did,  the  argument  from 
disarrangement  still  applies. 

Another  possible  objection  (and  here  I  pass  from  the  matter  previously  pub- 
lished) may  be  drawn  from  the  fact  that  there  is  no  sonnet  certainly  addressed 
to  a  woman  in  the  whole  "series"  1-126,  and  that  this  could  hardly  be  the  case 
if  the  order  were  purely  haphazard.  This  is  doubtless  a  real  hindrance  to  the 
theory  of  a  purely  accidental  arrangement  —  if  any  one  holds  such  a  theory; 
and  it  might,  not  unreasonably,  be  viewed  as  implying  that  Thorpe  obtained 
the  great  part  of  the  MS.  or  MSS.  containing  Sonnets  1-126  from  a  single 
source,  or  from  sources  such  as  led  him  to  think  that  they  dealt  with  identical 
persons  or  themes.  On  the  other  hand,  it  will  be  noted  that  Professor  Gray, 
in  the  argument  cited  above,  regards  this  very  circumstance  as  evidence 
of  Thorpe's  desire  to  attach  all  the  sonnets  to  "W.  H."  unless  their  content 
absolutely  forced  him  to  relegate  them  to  an  appendix. 

In  conclusion,  it  cannot  be  too  strongly  emphasized  that  to  find  a  connected 
story  in  the  Sonnets  is  not  to  have  proved  anything  regarding  their  order. 
Even  if  only  one  story  could  thus  be  made,  it  would  remain  purely  hypothetical 
unless  the  order  of  the  poems  were  ascertained  on  unquestionable  grounds.* 
The  history  of  criticism  is  full  of  the  wrecks  of  theories  dependent  on  the  notion 
that  an  individual  interpretation  was  the  only  possible  one.  In  the  case  of  the 
Sonnets  we  have  more  than  a  dozen  rearrangements,  each  one  telling  the  true 
story  to  its  maker.  The  very  existence  of  these  is  made  a  reproach  to  agnosti- 
cism on  the  subject,  just  as  the  multiplication  of  sects  is  made  a  reproach  to 
Protestantism.  "You  reject  the  existing  order,"  it  is  said,  "but  cannot  make 
a  better,  which  will  find  general  acceptance."  But  this  in  itself,  of  course,  is 
absolutely  without  pertinence  to  the  question  whether  the  traditional  order 
rests  on  an  adequate  basis.  The  only  safety  is  in  definite  and  substantial  rea- 
sons for  believing  that  it  represents  the  work  of  the  author.  And  no  such  reasons 
have  been  found. 


ns     A 


There  follow  outlines  of  various  rearrangements  of  the  Sonnets  which  have 
been  made  or  proposed. 

*  Sir  Sidney  Lee  has  truly  observed  that  "if  the  critical  ingenuity  which  has  detected  a  con- 
tinuous thread  of  narration  in  the  order  that  Thorpe  printed  Sh.'s  Sonnets  were  applied  to  the 
booksellers'  miscellany  of  sonnets  called  Diana,  that  volume  .  .  .  could  be  made  to  reveal 
the  sequence  of  an  individual  lover's  moods  quite  as  readily."  (Life,  p.  94".)  To  which  Her- 
ford  (Eversley  Sh.,  10:  374n.)  replies:  "He  may  be  invited  to  try."  For  myself,  as  I  have  said 
elsewhere  (not  in  frivolity,  but  with  a  serious  view  to  the  analogy  with  much  work  which  ha3 
been  done  on  the  Sonnets),  I  should  dislike  to  make  the  experiment  with  the  monotonous  pages 
of  the  Diana;  but  if  only  Wordsworth's  minor  poems,  including  his  sonnets,  had  come  down  to  us 
without  date,  author's  title,  or  note,  in  an  order  perhaps  determined  by  the  convenience  of  the 
publisher,  I  should  undertake  to  read  them  in  a  plausible  sequence,  and  even  to  show  that  that 
sequence  went  far  toward  solving  the  one  mystery  of  the  poet's  life  —  the  personality  of  "Lucy." 
I  should  trace  her  among  the  lakes,  along  the  River  Duddon,  and  the  vicinity  of  Tintern  Abbey, 
show  why  she  was  instrumental  in  preventing  the  poet  from  visiting  Yarrow,  indicate  the  in- 


434  APPENDIX 

Poems  of  1640* 

67-69  (The  glory  of  beautie). 
60;  63-66  f Injurious  Time).,     _ 
53-54  ('1  rue  Admiration) . 
57-58  (The  force  of  love). 

59  (The  beautie  of  Nature). 
1-3  (Loves  crueltie). 
13-15  (Youthfull  glory). 
16-17  (Good  Admonition). 
7  (Quicke  prevention). 
4-6  (Magazine  of  beautie). 
8-12  (An  invitation  to  Marriage). 
138  (False  beleefe).   [Pass.  Pilg.  version.] 
144  (A  Temptation).  [Pass.  Pilg.  version.] 
* 

21  (True  content). 

23  (A  bashfull  Lover). 

22  (Strong  conceite). 

*  * 

20  (The  Exchange). 

27-29  (A  disconsolation). 

*  * 

30-32  (The  benefit  of  Friendship). 

*  * 

38-40  (A  congratulation). 

41-42  (Losse  and  gaine). 

*  *  * 

44-45  (Melancholy  thoughts). 

33-35  (Loves  Releefe). 
36-37  (Unanimitie). 

24  (A  Master- peece). 

25  (Happinesse  in  content). 

26  (A  dutifull  Message). 
50-51  (Goe  and  come  quickly). 
46-47  (Two  faithfull  friends). 

48  (Carelesse  neglect). 

49  (Stoute  resolution). 


fluence  on  him  of  her  views  on  the  Visitation  of  the  Sick,  Old  Abbeys,  and  the  Emigrant  French 
Clergy,  and  probably  demonstrate  that  she  was  a  daughter  of  the  Leech-Gatherer  and  a  niece  of 
Simon  Lee. 

*  The  occasional  asterisks  indicate  other  poems  introduced  from  The  Passionate  Pilgrim  or 
elsewhere,  the  number  of  asterisks  corresponding  with  the  number  of  such  pieces. 


THE  ARRANGEMENT  OF  THE  SONNETS       435 

62  (Sat  fuisse). 

55  (A  living  monument). 

52  (Familiaritie  breeds  contempt). 

61  (Patiens  Armatus). 
71-72;  74  (A  Valediction). 

70  (Nil  magnis  Invidia). 
80-81  (Love-sicke). 

1 16  (The  Picture  of  true  love). 
82-85  (In  prayse  of  his  Love). 
86-87  (A  Resignation). 

88-91  (A  request  to  his  scornefull  Love). 

92_95  (A  Lovers  affection  though  his  Love  prove  unconstant). 

97-99  (Complaint  for  his  Loves  absence). 
100-101  (An  invocation  to  his  Muse). 
104-106  (Constant  affection). 
102-103  (Amazement). 

109-110  (A  Lovers  excuse  for  his  long  absence). 
1 1 1-1 12  (A  complaint). 
113-115  (Selfe  flattery  of  her  beautie). 
1 1 7-1 19  (Try all  of  loves  constancy). 

120  (A  good  construction  of  his  Loves  unkindenesse). 

121  (Errour  in  opinion). 

122  (Upon  the  receit  of  a  Table  Booke  from  his  Mistris). 

123  (A  Vow). 

124  (Loves  safetie). 

125  (An  intreatie  for  her  acceptance). 

128  (Upon  her  playing  on  the  Virginalls). 

129  (Immoderate  Lust). 

127;  130-132  (In  prayse  of  her  beautie  though  black). 

I33_I34  (Unkinde  Abuse). 

I35_I36  (A  Love-Suite). 
137;  139-140  (His  heart  wounded  by  her  eye). 

141-142  (A  Protestation). 
143  (An  Allusion). 

145  (Life  and  death). 

146  (A  Consideration  of  death). 

147  (Immoderate  Passion). 
148-150  (Loves  powerfull  subtilty). 

78-79  (Retaliation). 

735  77  (Sunne  Set). 
107-108  (A  monument  to  Fame). 
1 51-152  (Perjurie). 
* 

I53-I54  (Cupids  Treacherie). 


436  APPENDIX 

Knight  (1843) 

Group  I.  135-136;  143;  127;  131-132;  128;  130;  21;  139-140;  149;  57-58; 
56;  145;  129;  137-138;  141-142;  147-148;  150-152;  133-134;  144;  33-35; 
40-42;  94-96;  1 18-120. 

Group  II.  29-32;  36-39;  50-52;  27-28;  61;  43-45;  48;  75;  49;  88-93;  97-99; 
109-117;  1 22-1 25;  26 125:23-24 146-47;  77;  76;  78-80;  82-87;  mi;  146. 

Group  III.  1-8;  10;  9;  11-20;  53-55;  100-108;  59-60;  126;  22;  62-74;  81. 

Francois  Victor  Hugo  (1857) 

Group  I.  I35_I36;  143;  *45;  128;  [Sonnet  from  Pass.  Pilg.];  139-140;  127; 
131-132;  130;  21;  149;  137-138;  147-148;  14U  150;  142;  152;  154-155;  151; 
129. 

Group  II.  133-134;  144- 

Group  III.  33-35;  40-42. 

Group  IV.  26;  23;  25;  20;  24;  46-47;  29-31;  121;  36;  66;  39;  50-51;  48;  52; 
75;  56;  27-28;  61;  43-45;  97-99;  53;  109-120;  77;  122-125;  94-96;  69;  67-68; 
70;  49;  88-93;  57-58;  78;  38;  79-80;  82-87;  32. 

Group  V.  146;  100-103;  105;  76;  106;  59. 

Group  VI.  126;  104;  1-19;  60;  73;  37;  22;  62571-72;  74;  81;  64;  63565;  108; 
107;  54-55- 

Cartwright  (1859) 

Group  I.  1-20;  [Sonnet  from  Pass.  Pilg.];  53-55. 

Group  II.  100-108;  59-60;  25-26;  29-32;  109-112;  121;  36-39;  50-52;  48; 
76;  78-80;  82-87;  49;  88-93;  67-70;  126;  77. 

Group  III.  33-35;  40-42;  94-96;  62-66;  81;  71-74;  1 16-120;  122-125. 

Group  IV.  21-24;  27-28;  61;  43-47;  75;  56-58;  97-99;  113-115;  153-154; 
128;  145;  130;  127;  131-132;  135-136;  143;  139-140;  149;  137-138;  141-142; 
147-148;  150-152;  144;  133-134;  129;  146. 

BODENSTEDT   (1862) 

Group  I.  [Sonnet  from  Pass.  Pilg.]',  128;  [Sonnet  from  Pass.  Pilg.];  135-136; 
143:23;  121;  153-154;  152;  137;  151;  145;  149-150;  I4i-i42;75;  147-148;  130; 
127;  132;  131;  138;  46-47;  ii3-n4;57;97-99;56;96;  95588:87:89;  139-140; 
129. 

Group  II.  133-134;  144;  33-35;  40-42;  26;  20;  24;  29-31;  36;  66;  39;  38; 
48;  52;  50-51;  27-28;  61;  43-45;  53;  80;  82;  85-86;  78-79;  37;  58;  49;  62;  83; 
70;  69;  67-68;  93;  81;  71;  74;  32. 

Group  III.  1-19;  22;  21;  126;  110-112;  84;  64-65;  107-108. 

Group  IV.  100;  109;  118;  90;  92;  125;  119-120;  117;  103;  63;  104-106;  122; 
115-116;  73;  72;  91;  76;  101-102;  59-60;  54-55;  123;  94;  146;  124;  77;  25. 


THE  ARRANGEMENT  OF  THE  SONNETS       437 

Delius  (?)  (1864) 

I.  (Will.)  135-136;  143. 
II.  (Black  eyes.)  127;  131-132. 

III.  (Virginal.)  128. 

IV.  (False  Compare.)  130;  21. 
V.  (Tyranny.)  139-140;  149. 

VI.  (Slavery.)  57-58. 
VII.  (Coldness.)  56. 

VIII.  (I  hate  not  you.)  145. 

IX.  (Love  and  Hatred.)  129;  137-138;  141-142;  147-148;  150-152. 
X.  (Infidelity.)  I33-I345  H4- 
XI.  (Injury.)  33~35;  40-42. 
XII.  (A  Friend's  Faults.)  94-96. 

XIII.  (Forgiveness.)  1 18-120. 

XIV.  (Confiding  Friendship.)  29-32. 
XV.  (Humility.)  36-39. 

XVI.  (Absence.)  50-52;  27-28;  61;  43-45. 
XVII.  (Estrangement.)  48;  75;  49;  88-93. 
XVIII.  (A  Second  Absence.)  97-99. 
XIX.  (Fidelity.)  109-117;  122-125. 
XX.  (Dedications.)  26;  25;  23. 
XXI.  (The  Picture.)  24;  46-47. 
XXII.  (The  Note-Book.)  77. 

XXIII.  (Rivalry.)  76;  78-80;  82-87. 

XXIV.  (Reputation.)  121. 
XXV.  (The  Soul.)  146. 

XXVI.  (The  Poet  to  a  Friend.)  1-19. 
XXVII.  (The  Friend's  Beauty.)  20;  53-55. 
XXVIII.  (Immortality  of  Verse.)  100-108;  59-60. 
XXIX.  (Death.)  126;  22;  62-74;  81. 
XXX.  (Cupid.)  I53-I54-* 

Massey  (1866- 1 888) 

I.  (Sh.  to  Southampton.)  1-26;  38. 
II.  (Southampton  to  Elizabeth  Vernon.)  29-31. 

III.  (Sh.  to  Southampton.)  32. 

IV.  (Elizabeth  Vernon  to  Southampton.)  33-35;  41-42. 
V.  (Elizabeth  Vernon  to  Lady  Rich.)  133-134;  40. 

VI.  (Elizabeth  Vernon;  Soliloquy.)  144. 
VII.  (Sh.  to  Southampton.)  39. 
VIII.  (Southampton  to  Elizabeth  Vernon.)  36-37;  27-28;  43;  61;  44-52;  56. 

IX.  (Sh.  to  Southampton.)  53~55;  59~6o;  62-65. 
X.  (Elizabeth  Vernon;  Soliloquy.)  66-69. 

XI.  (Sh.  to  Southampton.)  70-74;  76-86. 


438  APPENDIX 

XII.  (Southampton  to  Elizabeth  Vernon.)  87;  75;  88-93. 

XIII.  (Elizabeth  Vernon  to  Southampton.)  94-96. 

XIV.  (Southampton  to  Elizabeth  Vernon.)  97-99. 
XV.  (Sh.  to  Southampton.)  100-106;  108. 

XVI.  (Southampton  to  Elizabeth  Vernon.)  109-114;  1 17-122. 
XVII.  (Sh.  to  Southampton  and  Elizabeth  Vernon.)  116. 
XVIII.  (Southampton;  Soliloquy.)  123-125. 
XIX.  (Sh.  to  Southampton.)  115;  107;  [126;  misplaced  fragmentj. 
XX.  (William  Herbert.)  127-132;  135-143;  57~58;  I45~i54- 

Stengel  (1881) 
[1-126  only] 

26;  1;  4;  8;  7;  11;  3;  5~6;  2;  9-10;  12;  20;  14;  13;  15-17;  59;  106;  53;  105; 
54;  104;  81;  55;  64;  19;  63;  65;  60;  107;  18;  126;  108;  77;  122;  100-101;  38;  23; 
73-741  32;  39;  78-79;  82;  21;  76;  103;  83;  85;  80;  86;  71-72;  102;  84;  58;  57; 
67-68;  123;  66;  116;  115;  124;  25;  29-31;  37;  125;  91-94;  69-70;  33-35;  95-96; 
40-42;  36;  87;  50-51;  27-28;  43;  61-62;  22;  24;  46-47;  44-45;  97-995  48-49; 
88-90;  109;  117;  no;  121;  in-112;  75;  52;  113-114;  118-120;  56. 

Von  Mauntz  (1894) 

Group  I.  128;  [3  sonnets  from  L.  L.  L.];  145;  135-136;  57-58;  127;  138;  149; 
132;  131;  151;  150;  148;  142;  141;  130;  139;  152;  147;  140;  137;  144;  41-42;  143; 
129;  146. 

Group  II.  1-17;  23;  26;  20;  59;  106;  22;  62;  53;  39;  126;  68;  64;  21;  103; 
76;  108;  105;  38;  78-80;  86;  85;  83-84;  82;  77;  70;  67;  69;  94-96;  104;  49;  [The 
Phoenix  and  Turtle];  56;  29;  116;  100;  102;  32;  73;  71-72;  74;  101;  54;  18-19;  60; 
65;  55;  63;  81;  115;  124;  107;  122;  33-36;  97-99;  40;  133-134;  123;  125. 

Group  III.  24;  46-47;  25;  30-31;  37;  52;  50-51;  113-114;  27-28;  43;  61;  48; 
44-45;  87-93;  109-112;  117-120;  75;  121;  66;  153-154. 

Butler  (1899)    • 

1-32; 121; 33-34; 36-39; 127-128; 130-132; 137-144; 135-136; 151; 35; 40-42; 
134;  133;  152;  43-118;  147-150;  1 19-120;  122-125. 
Appendix:  126;  129;  145;  146;  153-154- 

Godwin  (1900) 

I.  (The  Central  and  Explanatory  Sonnet.)  77. 
II.  (The  Independents  or  Solitaries.)  145;  126;  153-154;  19;  122;  81;  63;  26. 

III.  (A  Plea  for  Creative  or  Poetic  Art.)  12;  1;  4;  10;  3;  5-6;  2;  n;  9;  13;  7-8; 

15-17;  14. 

IV.  (A  Young  Love-Time.)  25;  21;  130;  18;  104;  22;  32;  50-51;  27-28;  44-47; 

52;  30-31;  48;  116;  115;  137;  54;  69-70;  121;  94;  66-68;  73;  71-72;  74; 
97-99;  29. 
V.  (The  Episode  of  the  Dark  Lady.)  23;  127;  131-132;  24;  141;  140;  149;  138; 


THE  ARRANGEMENT  OF  THE  SONNETS       439 

128;  136;  135;  142;  139;  61;  58;  143;  57;  134;  133;  41;  40;  42;  35;  151; 
150;  147-148;  144;  146;  95-96;  120;  152;  87;  109;  119;  129. 

VI.  (The  Poet's  Communion  with  the  Higher  Muse.)  38;  43;  113-114;  53;  20; 
106;  59;  7^64-65;  60;  62;  103;  39;  37;  36;  76;  78-79;  82-85;  80;  86;  49; 
88-93;  33-34;  5°;  100-101;  107;  110-112;  117-118;  107-108;  123-125; 
105;  55- 

Stopes  (1904) 
I.  (Poetical  Experiments.)  153-154. 
II.  (Urging  the  Youth  to  marry.)  1-7;  12;  11. 

III.  (Personal  affection  develops.)  8-10;  13-19;  24;  20-21;  25;  22. 

IV.  (Complimentary  Badinage.)  127;  132;  128;  149;  145;  138;  130. 
V.  (The  Poet  sends  Manuscripts.)  23;  26. 

VI.  (His  Friend's  Love.)  29;  112;  30-32.  ■ 

VII.  (Temptations.)  148;  141;  131;  140;  139;  150. 
VIII.  (Departure.)  50-51;  44-47. 
IX.  (Travel.)  27-28. 

X.  (After  return  sees  the  lady.)  136;  151-152;  142-143;  135.. 
XI.  (Hears  that  his  friend  superseded  him.)  33-34;  41;  40;  42;  35. 
XII.  (Reproaches  the  Lady.)  133-134. 
XIII.  (Love's  Fever.)  137;  147;  144. 
XIV.  (The  Poet's  Meditations.)  146;  129. 
XV.  (Gift  to  reconciled  Friend.)  77. 
XVI.  (Beauty  and  Time.)  62-63;  60;  64-65;  55. 
XVII.  (Rumours  concerning  Rivals.)  75;  48-49;  88-90;  121;  36;  91-93. 
XVIII.  (The  Rivals.)  76;  78-80;  82-87. 
XIX.  (Healing  of  the  Breach.)  57-58;  43;  61;  56. 
XX.  (He  feels  old  and  weary.)  73-74;  71-72;  81. 
XXI.  (Absence,  which  gives  pain.)  97-99;  53. 
XXII.  (The  Friend  is  coming  of  age.)  104-106;  59. 

XXIII.  (Gossip  concerning  Friend.)  66-68;  54;  94;  69;  95-96;  70. 

XXIV.  (The  Poet  forgets  to  sing.)  100;  103;  101-102;  52;  39;  37-38;  108. 
XXV.  (Clears  himself  from  charge  of  faithlessness.)  122;  109-111;  117-118; 

113-114;  1 19-120. 
XXVI.  (Triumph  of  Love  over  Time.)  115-116;  123;  107;  124-125. 
XXVII.  (Time's  Control  of  Nature.)  126. 

Walsh  (1908) 

I.  (Early  Miscellaneous  Sonnets.)  145;  154;  153.    [With  sonnets  from  the 

Pass.  Pilg.  and  the  plays.] 
II.  (To  his  Fair  Effeminate  Friend.)  20;  53;  59;  106;  67-68;  54;  18-19;  60; 
63-65;  15-17;  1;  7;  14;  12;  11;  8;  3;  2;  9-10;  13;  4;  5-6. 
III.  (To  his  Dark  Disdainful  Mistress.)  21;  130;  127;  132;  131;  24;  46-47; 

128;  136. 
IV.  (On  his  Loves.)  50-51;  27-28;  61;  48;  52;  75;  44-45;  97;  43;  "3""4: 


440  APPENDIX 

98-99;  57-58;  33-34;  120;  118;  m-112;  109;  117;  no;  119;  29;  25; 

22;  37;  62;  39;  36;  71-74;  81;  9i;  49;  88-90;  92. 
V.  (Episode  of  the  Dark  Mistress  Wooing  the  Fair  Friend.)  144;  133-134; 

40-42;  35;  143;  135;  138;  151;  139-140;  93;  142;  94^96;  69;  137;  148- 

150;  141;  147;  152. 
VI.  (On  the  Constancy  of  the  Poet's  Love,  in  spite  of  the  Decay  of  Beauty.) 

100-102;  56;  105;  108;  104;  124-125;  123;  115-116;  107;  55. 
VII.  (Sonnets  addressed  to  his  Patron.)  26;  38;  23;  103;  76;  78-79;  84;  82-83; 

86;  80;  85;  32. 
VIII.  (Late  Miscellaneous  Sonnets.)  77;  122;  70;  87;  129;  121;  146;  66;  30-31. 


THE   DATE  OF  COMPOSITION* 

The  date  question  is  perhaps  the  most  tantalizing  of  all  the  problems  in  the 
Sonnets.  Theories  regarding  other  problems  at  least  have  the  advantage  that, 
since  there  is  no  positive  evidence  anywhere,  one  argument  has  as  much  impor- 
tance as  another.  For  the  date  question,  however,  there  are  just  enough  ac- 
cepted facts  to  check  the  critical  Pegasus  in  mid-career.  They  are  these:  (i) 
In  Francis  Meres's  Palladis  Tamia  (1598)  occurs  the  sentence,  "As  the  soule  of 
Euphorbus  was  thought  to  live  in  Pythagoras,  so  the  sweete  wittie  soule  of 
Ovid  lives  in  mellifluous  and  hony-tongued  Shakespeare,  witnes  his  Venus  and 
Adonis,  his  Lucrece,  his  sugred  Sonnets  among  his  private  friends."  (2)  In 
1599  Jaggard  brought  out  The  Passionate  Pilgrim,  in  which  were  included 
Sonnets  138  and  144,  which  Mrs.  Stopes  (Ath.,  1898,  374,  405)  calls  "the  two 
maturest,  the  climax  of  the  whole  series."  (3)  In  1609  Thorpe  published  the 
whole  number  of  Sonnets  as  we  have  them  now.  Every  theorist  adds  to  these 
dates  certain  "indisputable"  dates  of  his  own,  based  on  internal  evidence;  but 
none  of  them  approach  in  definiteness  these  three.  And  these  do  not  give  any 
direct  clue  to  the  date  or  dates  of  composition,  save  that  the  sonnets  pirated 
by  Jaggard  suggest  that  the  whole  story  has  been  acted  to  the  end,  and  that 
it  has  been  among  the  "private  friends"  for  some  timejf  —  otherwise  Jaggard 
could  not  have  secured  the  two. 

Of  other  external  evidence,  much  consists  of  references  which  are  applied 
to  the  Sonnets  in  order  to  prove  some  theory  in  regard  to  "Mr.  W.  H."  or  the 
Dark  Lady.  Thus  Isaac  places  the  love-sonnets  in  1591-92  because  of  a  refer- 
ence in  Nash's  Piers  Penniless  (1592):  "Sometimes  ...  he  will  be  an  Inamo- 
rato Poeta,  and  sonnet  a  whole  quire  of  paper  in  praise  of  Ladie  Maniebetter, 
his  yelow-faced  mistress"  (see  note  at  end  of  S.  130);  and  also  finds  a  reference 
to  Sh.  in  Nash's  Anatomie  of  Absurditie  (1590),  where  mention  is  made  of  "new 
found  songs  and  sonnets,  which  every  red-nosed  fiddler  hath  at  his  fingers* 
end."  (Jahrb.,  19:  211.)  Sarrazin  very  properly  criticises  these  clues  as 
doubtful  (Jahrb.,  31:  218  ff.). 

In  1593,  Sh.  alluded  to  Venus  &  Adonis  as  "the  first  heir  of  my  invention"; 
may  this  set  bounds  for  the  beginning  of  the  Sonnets?  (Gollancz,  Preface  to 
Temple  ed.,  xi-xii.)  But  it  is  possible  that  Sh.  did  not  consider  occasional  son- 
nets as  a  formal  expression  of  his  invention;  the  quotation,  too,  is  from  a  dedi- 
cation to  a  patron. 

Corney  (N.  6*  Q.,  3d  s.,  1 :  87)  suggests  that  the  dedication  to  Lucrece  (1594) 

—  "What  I  have  done  is  yours;  what  I  have  to  do  is  yours"  —  is  a  promise,  of 

which  the  Sonnets  are  the  fulfilment.     But  "what  I  have  to  do"  may  mean 

just  as  well  "whatever  I  hope  to  accomplish  at  any  time." 

*  [This  section  was  prepared  by  Miss  Margery  Bailey,  A.  M.  —  EdJ 
t  But  even  this  is  disputed;  see  Rolfe's  note  at  the  end  of  S.  144. 


442  APPENDIX 

Fleay  and  several  other  critics  have  found  a  reference  to  the  sonnet-story 
in  Willobie  his  Avisa  (1594);  but  for  the  doubtful  basis  for  this  notion,  see  be- 
low, pp.  478-82. 

Returning  for  a  moment  to  the  allusion  in  Palladis  Tamia,  we  may  note 
that  some  critics  (as  Fleay)  use  this  date  (1598)  to  limit  that  of  the  whole 
series;  but  Mackail  doubts  whether  Meres  alluded  to  this  particular  series  at 
all;  Gray  (Publ.  M.L.A.,  1915)  holds  that  "only  the  'sugred'  sonnets  need 
come  before  1598,  and  indeed  it  is  more  appropriate  that  the  others  should 
not";  Tyler  and  Archer  also  believe  that  Meres  was  not  speaking  of  the 
entire  series. 

Internal  "evidence"  for  the  date  problem  is  named  legion,  but  much  of  it 
may  receive  the  title  of  balderdash.  Every  theory  seems  able  to  twist  every 
other  to  its  own  use.  We  may  consider  the  evidence  under  four  heads:  (I) 
Interpretations  of  sonnet  wording;  (II)  The  relation  of  the  Southampton- 
Pembroke-Dark  Lady  controversy  to  the  question  of  date;  (III)  Parallels 
with  other  authors;  (IV)  Parallels  with  other  works  of  Sh. 

I.  In  S.  2  Sh.  describes  a  man  of  forty  as  old,  and  this  furnishes  Butler 
with  a  starting-point  for  his  early  dating  of  the  Sonnets,  on  the  simple  ground 
that  no  one  could  have  written  the  sonnet  who  was  much  over  twenty-one; 
hence  it  may  be  dated  1585! 

S.  14  is  the  first  which  has  been  thought  to  allude  to  contemporary  events. 
Fleay  finds  in  it  reference  to  the  plagues  of  1592-3,  the  dearths  of  1594-6,  and 
the  irregularity  of  the  seasons  in  1595-6.  Archer  replies  (Fort.  Rev.,  n.s.,  62: 
817)  that  the  passage  is  very  general  in  tone,  but  that,  even  if  it  were  taken 
literally,  1597  or  1598  would  be  found  as  appropriate.  (Needless  to  say,  Fleay 
is  a  Southamptonist  and  Archer  a  Pembrokist!) 

The  "pupil  pen"  of  S.  16  is  supposed  by  Steevens  to  be  a  "slight  proof  that 
the  poems  before  us  were  our  author's  earliest  compositions."  Butler  and 
Gollancz  approve  this  suggestion;  Walsh  and  Porter  incline  to  Archer's 
interpretation  of  the  phrase  as  one  of  exaggerated  humility.  This  applies  to 
the  similar  view,  taken  by  Malone,  of  the  "poor  rude  lines"  of  S.  32. 

Fleay  believes  the  "books"  of  S.  23  to  be  Venus  &  Adonis  and  Lucrece; 
hence  this  sonnet,  with  all  which  contain  "repeated  references  to  the  Lucrece 
dedication"  (18,  26,  34,  81,  108),  must  come  later  than  May,  1594. 

Sonnets  27,  48,  and  50,  the  "Travel  Sonnets,"  Fleay  uses  to  show  that  the 
players  were  touring  the  provinces  —  probably  in  1593  or  1597,  on  account 
of  the  plague.  As  an  alternative  we  are  offered  the  possibility  that  Sh.  was 
rusticating  in  Bristol  or  Dover,  waiting  for  the  ire  of  Sir  John  Oldcastle  (who 
considered  himself  maligned  in  Henry  IV,  1597)  to  cool.  "In  all  probability 
the  later  date  is  the  correct  one."  Sarrazin,  however,  holds  to  the  early  date, 
since  he  thinks  that  these  sonnets  were  written  on  the  occasion  of  the  poet's 
leaving  the  estate  of  Southampton,  where  he  had  remained  during  the  plague 
of  1593. 

The  "precious  friends"  of  S.  30  Fleay  explains  to  be  Marlowe  (died  1593) 
and  Sh.'s  son  Hamnet  (died  1596).  For  S.  35  we  have  the  assumption  that  the 


THE  DATE  OF  COMPOSITION  443 

eclipse  of  the  moon  and  sun  refers  to  a  period  when  Sh.  was  out  of  favor  with 
the  Queen  or  the  court,  and  with  Southampton;  "and  no  such  date  can  I  find 
but  1597,  circa  June."  These  notes  characterize  Fleay's  whole  method,  and 
those  of  similar  theorists.  We  have,  of  course,  no  reason  for  thinking  that 
"  precious  friends"  refers  to  definite  persons;  and  a  reference  to  S.  35  will  show 
that  Fleay  twists  the  whole  meaning  awry.  Incidentally,  as  Gray  observes, 
Sh.  produced  Love's  Labour's  Lost  at  court  in  1597  —  hardly  an  indication  of 
disgrace. 

Sonnets  62  and  63  contain  references  to  the  poet's  age:  "tann'd  antiquity," 
"Time's  injurious  hand,"  etc.  (See  also  22,  1;  73;  138,  6.)  Archer  claims 
that  they  must  have  been  written  at  a  time  when  the  poet  could,  without  too 
great  poetic  license,  have  described  himself  as  old  in  contrast  with  his  friend. 
Fleay,  Lee,  and  others,  on  the  other  hand,  have  shown  that  such  expressions 
were  conventional  in  the  period  (see  notes  on  the  sonnets  in  question). 

S.  66,  according  to  Garnett  (see  note  on  line  9),  aims  a  blow  at  the  sup- 
pression of  the  theatres  ordered  in  July,  1597,  in  the  phrase  "art  made  tongue- 
tied  by  authority."   Other  interpretations  are  at  least  equally  plausible. 

The  "shame"  of  S.  72  (with  the  "motley"  of  no  and  the  "brand"  of  in) 
are  referred  by  Fleay  not  to  the  mere  profession  of  player,  but  to  a  particular 
occasion,  especially  the  Oldcastle  affair  —  again  —  of  1597.  It  is  also  possible 
that  the  "vulgar  scandal"  of  112  and  the  "vile  esteemed"  of  121  belong  with 
them.  The  expressions  of  1 12  Tyler  relates  to  a  private  scandal  and  a  theatri- 
cal quarrel  of  about  1601  (see  the  notes). 

In  S.  76  the  words  "invention  in  a  noted  weed"  and  "new-found  methods" 
are  also  rich  in  possibilities.  Was  Sh.  writing  when  the  sonnet  was  noted  be- 
cause it  was  the  height  of  fashion,  about  1594  (Gray,  Publ.  M.L.A.,  1915), 
or  after  the  fashion  had  spent  itself  in  the  various  sonnet  sequences?  The  word 
seems  to  preclude  the  belief  that  he  wrote  many  of  the  Sonnets  at  a  time  when 
the  fashion  was  just  coming  in  —  about  1590  (Beeching,  Intro.,  p.  xxiii).  If 
we  inquire  as  to  Sh.'s  attitude  toward  the  sonnet  form,  Fleay  notes  that  in 
L.L.L.  he  uses  sonnets  in  dialogue,  and  quite  seriously;  they  are  spoken  of 
(IV,  iii)  as  a  means  of  gaining  favor  in  love.  In  T.  G.  V.  (Ill,  ii,  68,  92)  Proteus 
recommends  the  form  to  Thurio,  and  the  Duke  approves  the  "force  of  heaven- 
bred  poesy."  The  choruses  of  R.  &  J.  (1598)  are  sonnets;  after  this  there  exist 
no  evidences  of  favor  toward  it  (unless  the  letter  of  Helena,  in  sonnet  form, 
in  A.W.,  III,  iv,  —  of  uncertain  date).  Sarrazin  (Jahrb.,  34:  368)  notes  that 
in  the  middle  dramas  the  art  is  made  laughable  (M.  W.  W.,  I,  i,  206;  M.  Ado, 
V,  ii,  4;  A.  Y.  L.,  Ill,  iv,  25;  H.  5,  III,  vii,  42;  A.W.,  IV,  iii,  355);  only  exag- 
gerated or  comic  figures  practice  it.  Certainly  the  inferences  from  all  this  are 
not  definite.  It  is  possible  that  Sh.  ceased  to  use  the  sonnet  in  plays  as  soon  as 
he  discovered  its  power  as  an  instrument  of  sincere  self-expression;  at  any  rate, 
the  serious  employment  of  sonnets  in  the  plays  is  in  the  early,  "italianate" 
style.  Fleay  implies  that  the  "noted  weed"  restrains  the  sonnets  within  the 
bounds  of  its  popularity,  ending  about  1595;  but  see  Mackail's  notes  (under 
S.  76)  to  the  effect  that  Sh.  refers  to  his  use  of  "a  poetical  form  which  was 


444  APPENDIX 

passing  out  of  vogue."  On  the  other  hand,  the  phrase  may  not  refer  to  the 
sonnet  form  at  all,  but  merely  to  the  familiar  dress  of  the  poet's  language  of 
praise. 

Sonnets  79,  80,  and  86,  raise  the  question  of  the  connection  between  the  date 
problem  and  that  of  the  Rival  Poet.  (For  this,  see  the  separate  discussion, 
pp.  472-77.)  The  uncertainty  here  is  too  great  to  admit  of  useful  inferences. 
It  may  be  noted  that  those  who  identify  the  rival  poet  as  Marlowe  assume, 
of  course,  a  very  early  date.  On  the  other  hand,  Chapman's  Seven  Iliades 
appeared  in  1598,  and  Tyler  considers  this  to  fix  the  date  of  the  sonnets 
concerned;  "in  1599  it  was  still  a  new  book,  likely  to  excite  the  interest  of 
Mr.  W.  H." 

Of  the  words  "spite  of  fortune"  in  S.  90,  Beeching  asks:  "Does  this  refer 
to  the  troubles  of  Sh.'s  company,  due  to  the  popularity  of  boy  actors?"  — 
i.e.,  in  1601.  See  the  notes  on  the  sonnet,  for  other  suggestions  respecting  Sh.'s 
troubles.    Nothing  could  be  less  conclusive. 

In  S.  98  Wyndham  discovers  a  new  clue  in  the  allusion  to  "heavy  Saturn," 
leading  him  to  date  the  sonnet  in  1601  or  1602.  See  the  notes  for  his  reasoning, 
and  some  comment  thereon. 

S.  100  has  suggested  some  vain  clues  to  a  date,  coming  apparently  after  a 
period  of  silence;  but  the  inferences  drawn  are  various  and  indefinite  (see  the 
notes). 

S.  104  has  been  called  a  "key-sonnet"  for  the  date,  but  roams  pretty  wildly 
about  the  calendar  of  the  years.  Here  Sarrazin's  argument,  based  on  points 
of  style,  is  of  most  interest  (see  the  notes  for  some  account  of  it);  it  results  in 
the  date  of  1595,  with  1592  for  the  earlier  sonnets.  At  best  it  is  only  for  the 
relative  dating  of  different  portions  of  the  series  that  this  sonnet  has  any  more 
significance  than  any  other. 

S.  107,  in  the  view  of  many  critics,  gives  the  only  definite  evidence  of  date. 
The  notes  set  forth  the  character  of  this  evidence  in  full,  and  show  that,  while 
the  majority  of  critics  infer  the  date  either  of  1601  or  1603,  there  is  a  hopeless 
want  of  agreement  even  on  the  question  whether  the  allusions  of  the  sonnet 
are  to  historical  events  at  all. 

The  same  thing  is  true  of  S.  124,  with  two  theories  standing  out  conspicu- 
ously: that  there  is  reference  to  the  execution  of  Essex,  1601,  and  that  there  is 
reference  to  the  Jesuit  powder  plot  of  1605.  See  also  the  notes  on  125,  13,  where 
those  favoring  the  "Essex  theory"  find  further  support  for  their  opinion. 

Finally,  on  S.  144  see  Professor  Gray's  discussion  of  the  possible  relation  of 
this  sonnet  to  the  two  versions  of  Love's  Labour's  Lost.  In  a  MS.  note  he  has 
summed  up  his  view  as  follows:  "This  sonnet  must  have  been  written  after  the 
additions  to  L.  L.  L.  in  1597-98;  for  it  is  a  psychological  impossibility  that  Sh. 
could  have  treated  his  'black'  heroine  in  the  heart-whole  and  care-free  way 
he  does  in  his  revision  of  that  drama,  after  this  tormenting  doubt  had  got  hold 
of  him.  And  as  this  sonnet,  and  138,  were  published  in  1599,  we  may  safely 
date  the  crucial  event  in  the  story  of  the  Sonnets  as  occurring  in  1598  or  1599." 

II.  For  the  Pembroke-Southampton  question,  one  must  refer  chiefly  to  the 


THE   DATE  OF  COMPOSITION  445 

outline  found  in  pp.  464-68  below.  The  inferences  from  the  two  theories  re- 
specting dates  may  be  noted  here,  and  to  this  end  one  should  have  in  mind  an 
outline  of  the  early  lives  of  the  two  earls. 

Henry  Wriothesley  was  born  in  1573,  nine  years  after  Sh.;  he  became  Earl 
of  Southampton  on  the  death  of  his  father  in  1581,  and  was  brought  up  as  a 
"child  of  state"  under  Lord  Burleigh,  who  in  1590  wrote  of  his  desire  to  marry 
the  young  man  to  Burleigh's  granddaughter;  Southampton,  however,  did  not 
care  to  marry.  In  1593  Sh.  dedicated  to  him  V.  6f  A.,  and  in  1594  Lu- 
crece.  In  1595  he  fell  in  love  with  Elizabeth  Vernon,  and  in  1598  secretly  mar- 
ried her,  thus  losing  the  favor  of  the  Queen.  In  1601  he  was  implicated  in  the 
Essex  conspiracy,  and  imprisoned  in  the  Tower,  being  liberated  only  on  the 
accession  of  James  in  1603.  Thereafter  he  was  active  in  public  life,  civil  and 
military,  until  his  death  in  1624. 

William  Herbert  was  born  in  1580,  sixteen  years  after  Sh.  In  1597  it  is 
known  that  he  was  desired  by  his  family  to  marry,  But  refused,  and  won  con- 
sent to  a  period  of  life  in  town,  coming  to  London  in  1598.  In  1600  began  his 
intrigue  with  Mary  Fitton,  one  of  the  Queen's  maids;  their  illegitimate  son 
was  born  in  1601,  and  both  lovers  were  imprisoned  for  a  time  by  Elizabeth. 
In  the  same  year  Herbert  became  Earl  of  Pembroke,  on  the  death  of  his  father. 
Like  Southampton,  he  returned  to  favor  at  court  only  on  the  accession  of 
James.  In  1604  he  married  Lady  Mary  Talbot,  —  apparently  for  a  fortune. 
In  1623  Heminge  and  Condell  dedicated  to  him  and  his  brother  the  First  Folio 
of  Sh.'s  plays,  on  the  ground  that  they  had  "prosecuted  the  plays  and  their 
author  living  with  much  favor."   He  lived  till  1630. 

It  is  obvious  that  if  the  Pembroke  theory  be  accepted,  the  evidence  points 
to  a  relatively  late  date  for  the  Sonnets;  the  first  group  (urging  to  marry)  can- 
not date  earlier  than  1597  or  1598.  The  "three  years"  of  104  would  then  con- 
form to  the  suggestions  found  for  the  date  1 601  in  certain  of  the  later  ones.  On 
the  other  hand,  if  we  accept  the  Southampton  theory,  the  earlier  sonnets  might 
date  anywhere  from  1590  to  1595,  the  period  of  Sh.'s  first  plays  and  first  poems,* 
and  one  would  assume  that  the  whole  number  of  sonnets  had  been  written 
(with  possible  individual  exceptions)  before  the  publication  of  The  Passionate 
Pilgrim  in  1599. 

The  Dark  Lady  has  not  received  much  attention  as  affecting  the  question 
of  date,  since  there  is  no  important  claim  for  identification  here,  except  in 
connection  with  the  Pembroke  theory.  It  has  been  noticed,  however,  that  dark 
ladies  appear  in  certain  of  the  plays;  —  chiefly,  unfortunately,  in  one  of  early 
date  (Love's  Labour's  Lost)  and  in  another  —  in  which  the  lady  is  at  her  witch- 
ing best  —  of  late  date  (Antony  &  Cleopatra).  Dowden  observes  that  in  the 
later  play  the  poet  seems  to  be  safely  reminiscent,  rather  than  deeply  involved 
in  a  love-affair.  The  dark  lady  of  L.  L.  L.  is  treated  more  tenderly  than  Cleo- 
patra, —  and  this  play  is  thought  to  have  been  produced  no  later  than  1591. 
Notice,  however,  the  interesting  theory  of  Gray  (Publ.  M.  L.  A.,  1915):  "In 
1597-98  Sh.  revised  L.  L.  L.,  and  . . .  added  all  those  portions  which  refer  to  Rosa- 
line as  'dark.'  The  Rosaline  of  1590  or  so  was  a  'whitely  wanton  with  a  velvet 


446  APPENDIX 

brow,'  and  an  irresponsible  madcap.  The  later  added  portions  deepen  her 
character,  as  they  do  that  of  her  lover,  Biron.  ...  It  is  notable  that  the  analo- 
gies .  .  .  between  the  'early'  play  and  the  Sonnets  occur  almost  wholly  in  the 
additions  of  1597-98.  .  .  .  But  Sh.  could  not  in  1597  have  made  such  a  point 
of  the  'blackness'  of  his  heroine,  and  have  treated  her  with  such  easy  grace, 
just  after  his  betrayal  by  the  Dark  Lady  of  the  Sonnets.  And  .  .  .  the  two  son- 
nets contained  in  the  Passionate  Pilgrim  (1599)  come  after  this  crucial  event. 
1598  would  accordingly  be  the  year  of  the  'key  sonnet'  (144),  and  from  this 
date  we  should  have  to  build  out  our  sequence."  Sarrazin,  on  the  other  hand, 
thinks  that  the  wooing  lady  must  have  been  of  the  same  period  as  the  Venus 
of  Venus  &  Adonis;  we  need  not  follow  him  in  his  discovery  of  her  in  upper 
Italy,  during  an  hypothetical  journey  thither  of  Sh.'s  in  1592.  Mrs.  Stopes  has 
another  conjecture:  the  lady  was  Jaquinetta  Vautrollier,  the  French  wife  of 
Field,  the  printer,  and  the  intrigue  took  place  in  1595-96,  just  before  Field 
signed  the  petition  against  the  Blackfriars  Theatre.  Finally,  those  critics  who, 
like  Fleay  and  Acheson,  identify  her  with  the  heroine  of  Willobie  his  Avisa, 
must  suppose  that  the  affair  shortly  preceded  the  issue  of  that  book,  in  1594. 

From  all  of  which  it  is  evident  that  our  need  of  information  respecting  the 
date  of  the  Sonnets,  in  order  to  identify  the  friend  and  the  lady,  is  neither  more 
nor  less  great  than  the  need  of  such  identification  in  order  to  throw  light  on  the 
question  of  the  date. 

III.  For  the  question  of  parallels  with  other  authors,  see  especially  the  fol- 
lowing section  of  the  Appendix.  We  should  note,  in  the  first  place,  that  the 
sonnet  fashion  began  "to  be  noticeable  with  the  posthumous  appearance  of 
Sidney's  Sonnets,  1591,  and  the  publication  of  the  first  edition  of  Daniel's 
Delia,  1592.  The  influence  of  both  these  works  on  Sh.  is  generally  admitted, 
and  is  consistent  with  almost  all  the  theories  as  to  the  date  of  his  Sonnets, 
though  naturally  emphasized  by  those  who  place  them  early.  In  the  case  of 
Drayton,  whose  sonnets  first  appeared  in  1594,  the  question  of  the  borrower  is 
disputed  (see  the  details  below) ;  but  since  both  sides  admit  that  whatever  bor- 
rowing there  was  probably  depended  on  the  reading  of  MS.  poems  rather  than 
of  published  ones,  the  decision  could  not  in  any  case  be  used  as  proof  of  the 
date  of  composition.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  alleged  parallels  between 
the  Sonnets  and  Marlowe's  Hero  &  Leander,  with  which  it  may  be  assumed  that 
Sh.  was  familiar  long  before  its  publication  in  1598.  Other  parallels,  such  as 
some  which  have  been  noted  for  the  sonnets  of  Constable,  give  no  clue  whatever 
(even  if  they  are  due  to  something  other  than  coincidence)  as  to  which  passage 
was  the  original. 

In  S.  32,  12  Tyler  discovers  a  borrowing  from  Marston's  Pigmalion's  Image 
(1598);  but  it  will  be  seen  by  a  reference  to  the  notes  that  the  inference  is  base- 
less. In  like  manner,  he  traces  the  phrasing  of  S.  55  to  Meres's  language  in 
Palladis  Tamia  (1598),  and  some  have  found  this  plausible;  but  the  notes  on 
the  sonnet,  again,  will  show  how  doubtful  is  the  inference. 

Sonnets  94  and  142  contain  interesting  parallels  with  the  play  of  Edward  VI, 
published  1596,  which  to  a  number  of  critics,  such  as  Delius  and  Isaac,  have 


THE  DATE  OF  COMPOSITION  447 

made  it  appear  that  these  sonnets  were  in  circulation  in  1595,  —  the  dramatist 
being  the  apparent  borrower.  On  the  other  hand,  see  Gray's  note,  quoted 
under  S.  94,  for  an  interesting  contrary  conjecture. 

IV.  Parallels  with  other,  writings  of  Sh.,  while  lacking  in  evidential  definite- 
ness,  form  on  the  whole  the  most  promising  of  all  the  kinds  of  internal  evidence 
for  the  date  of  the  Sonnets.  Of  the  efforts  to  arrange  and  draw  inferences 
from  this  material,  the  most  important  is  that  made  by  Isaac  in  his  article  in 
the  Jahrbuch  for  1884.  The  only  drawback  is  his  subjective  rearrangement  of 
the  Sonnets  in  ten  groups  based  on  content,  with  the  assumption  that  all  the 
sonnets  in  each  group  are  of  substantially  the  same  date.  But  his  parallels 
can,  of  course,  be  used  apart  from  this.  First  of  all,  Isaac  divides  the  mass  of 
the  Sonnets  into  two  portions:  (1)  those  which  may  be  termed  conventional, 
dealing  with  platonic  love  and  other  familiar  Renaissance  themes,  forming 
eight  of  his  ten  "cycles";  and  (2)  those  which  may  be  called  original,  bearing 
no  resemblance  to  any  other  contemporary  product.  The  former  group  he  finds 
paralleled  by  the  relatively  light  and  thoughtless  manner  of  the  early  plays  and 
poems,  the  latter  by  the  broader  outlook  and  the  melancholy  of  later  plays. 
Coming  to  the  more  particular  parallels  in  thought  and  style,  he  finds  that 
in  the  more  conventional  Sonnets  there  are  five  such  parallels  suggestive  of 
Sh.'s  early  work  to  one  of  later  work,  indicating  the  period  closing  with  1592; 
on  the  other  hand,  the  maturer  sonnets  show  few  resemblances  to  the  early 
plays,  but  a  preponderance  of  parallels  with  the  plays  of  the  period  of  2  Henry 
IV  and  Hamlet.  Very  few  parallels,  again,  appear  for  the  late  plays. 

An  independent  study  of  this  phase  of  the  subject  has  been  made  by  Mr. 
Horace  Davis,  whose  manuscript  notes  have  been  deposited,  for  the  use  of 
students  of  the  Sonnets,  in  the  Library  of  Stanford  University.  In  order  to 
•compare  his  work  with  that  of  Isaac,  the  approximate  numbers  of  parallels 
listed  by  both  critics  are  enumerated  in  the  following  table;  and  there  is  added 
for  each  play  a  conjectured  date,  based  on  a  combination  of  two  recent  tables 
of  such  dates  — that  of  MacCracken  and  Pierce,  in  An  Introduction  to  Sh. 
(1910),  and  that  of  Neilson  and  Thorndike,  in  The  Facts  about  Sh.  (1913)- 

Number  of  Sonnets  parallels  noted 
by  Isaac     by  Davis 

Love's  Labour's  Lost  (1590-91;  revised  1597-98) 

Comedy  of  Errors  (1590-91) 

1  Henry  VI  (1590-91) 

2  Henry  VI  (1590-92) 

3  Henry  VI  (1590-92) 
Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona  (1591-92) 
Romeo  &  Juliet  (1591,  revised  1596-97;  or  1594-95) 
Venus  &  Adonis  (1592) 
Richard  III  (1592-93) 
King  John  (1592-93) 
Lucrece  (i593"94) 
Titus  Andronicus  (1593-94) 


34 

49 

12 

'  22 

15 

12 

21 

14 

14 

17 

3i 

35 

48 

48 

37 

64 

25 

24 

17 

22 

39 

60 

10 

18 

*8                                     APPENDIX 

Number  of  Sonnets  parallels  noted 

by  Isaac 

by  Davis 

Midsummer  Night's  Dream  (1593-95) 

18 

45 

Richard  II  (i593"95) 

21 

26 

Merchant  of  Venice  (1594-96). 

7 

23 

Taming  of  the  Shrew  (1596-97) 

8 

7 

1  Henry  IV  (1597) 

8 

10 

2  Henry  IV  (1598) 

13 

13 

Merry  Wives  of  Windsor  (1598-99) 

6 

7 

Much  Ado  about  Nothing  (1599) 

9 

7 

Henry  V  (1599) 

3 

7 

As  You  Like  It  (1 599-1 600) 

26 

13 

Julius  Ccesar  (1 599-1 601) 

1 

3 

Twelfth  Night  (1601) 

H 

15 

Troilus  &  Cressida  (1601-02) 

24 

16 

All's  Well  that  Ends  Well  (1602) 

11 

10 

Hamlet  (1602-04) 

17 

15 

Measure  for  Measure  (1603) 

14 

8 

Othello  (1604) 

6 

12 

King  Lear  (1604-06) 

2 

11 

Macbeth  (1605-06) 

3 

5 

Antony  &  Cleopatra  (1607-08) 

14 

7 

Timon  of  Athens  (1607-08) 

5 

4 

Pericles  (1607-08) 

7 

0 

Coriolanus  (1609) 

4 

4 

Cymbeline  (1610) 

13 

7 

Winter1  s  Tale  (1610-11) 

5 

6 

The  Tempest  (161 1) 

3 

2 

Henry  VIII  (1612-13) 

7 

4 

Considering  the  remarkably  subjective  character  of  the  method  of  selection 
of  such  parallels,  one  must  regard  the  general  tendency  to  coincidence  in  these 
two  lists  as  fairly  significant.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  obvious  that  when  they 
are  applied  to  the  question  of  the  date  of  composition  of  the  Sonnets,  various 
queries  must  be  noted.  The  character  of  a  given  play  is  significant:  if  it  is 
largely  prose,  like  the  Merry  Wives,  the  small  number  of  parallels  counts  for 
nothing.  Some  will  have  it  that  the  character  of  the  parallels  is  of  much  more 
importance  than  the  number:  the  mass  of  resemblances  to  the  early  plays,  it  is 
said,  is  made  up  of  conventional  ideas  and  expressions,  which  might  be  recalled 
and  used  again  years  after  their  first  employment,  whereas  the  resemblances 
to  Hamlet  and  Troilus  6*  Cressida  are  less  conventional  and  more  significant. 
Further,  one  must  note  the  annoying  circumstance  that  the  two  plays  which 
stand  at  the  head  of  both  Isaac's  and  Davis's  lists,  for  the  number  of  parallels 
(Love's  Labour's  Lost  and  Romeo  6*  Juliet),  are  thought  to  have  been  revised 
about  1597,  so  that  they  can  be  used  in  support  of  the  claims  of  both  the  first 
and  the  second  period. 


THE   DATE  OF  COMPOSITION  449 

Sarrazin  followed  up  Isaac's  studies  of  parallels,  to  some  extent  supporting 
his  method  but  reaching  rather  different  conclusions.  Like  Isaac,  he  emphasizes 
the  rhetorical  conventions  of  the  love-sonnets,  counting  them  to  be  the  earliest: 
there  are  rhetorical  questions  and  answers  (as  in  135,  137,  148,  149);  the  style 
is  fantastic,  toying  with  trifles,  full  of  the  casuistry  of  love;  a  close,  sultry  air 
hangs  over  them,  that  of  the  city  rather  than  the  field  and  woods.  The  man- 
ner of  the  "sonnets  of  procreation"  (the  opening  group)  is  close  to  that  of  the 
love-sonnets,  but  riper  and  rather  more  artistic;  it  corresponds  somewhat 
to  that  between  Venus  &  Adonis  and  Lucrece.  Antitheses,  repeated  words, 
and  the  like,  are  still  abundant;  but  the  tone  is  less  agitated  and  restless,  more 
moderate  and  contemplative;  the  diction  is  richer  in  metaphor  —  sometimes 
to  the  point  of  profusion  and  contradiction,  as  in  Sh.'s  later  style  —  and  has 
now  the  breath  of  out-door  air,  with  images  drawn  especially  from  summer  and 
autumn.  (Sh.'s  Lehrjahre,  pp.  155,  171.)  In  his  articles  in  the  Jahrbuch  (1896 
and  1898),  Sarrazin  considers  more  in  detail  characteristics  of  style  like  re- 
peated words,  plays  on  repeated  or  reversed  phrasing,  and  the  like,  and  also 
the  mere  word-likenesses  which  may  be  grouped  as  "  dislegomena  "  and  "trisle- 
gomena";  the  general  conclusion  being  that  the  greater  portion  of  the  Sonnets 
date  from  the  period  of  Love's  Labour's  Lost,  Romeo  &  Juliet,  Venus  &  Adonis, 
Richard  III,  and  Lucrece,  or  1592-95. 

Other  critics,  basing  their  judgment  rather  on  general  impressions  of  the 
parallelism  with  the  plays,  reach  various  conclusions.  Krauss  and  von 
Mauntz  agree  substantially  with  Sarrazin,  emphasizing  the  resemblances 
to  Venus  &  Adonis.  Dowden  observes  that  the  Sh.  of  the  Sonnets  is  the 
man  who  wrote  Venus  &  Adonis  and  Romeo  &  Juliet  —  about  to  acquire  the 
bitter  experience  later  reflected  in  Measure  for  Measure  and  Troilus;  some  of 
the  Sonnets,  as  64-74,  may  be  thought  to  echo  the  tone  of  these  later  plays 
and  of  Hamlet.  Tyler  holds  that  there  is  no  key  like  the  Sonnets  for  the  under- 
standing of  Troilus  &  Cressida.  Goodlet,  in  his  article  in  Poet  Lore,  1891, 
emphasizes  the  connection  of  the  Sonnets  with  the  story  of  Two  Gentlemen  of 
Verona,  and  believes  that  they  probably  preceded  the  play.  E.  K.  Cham- 
bers "would  go  to  the  stake  for  it,"  that  the  language  and  thought  of  the 
Sonnets  are  those  of  the  plays  written  during  the  years  1592-94  (Academy, 
July  31,  1897).  Wyndham  would  place  the  earliest  groups  (as  1-42)  before 
1599,  but  believes  that  the  melancholy  languor,  metaphysical  speculation, 
and  poetical  perfection,  of  the  group  56-125  display  an  affinity  for  Hamlet. 
Beeching  is  especially  impressed  by  the  parallels  with  Henry  IV,  and  goes 
so  far  as  to  say  —  what  is  scarcely  warranted  —  that  the  greater  number  of 
parallels  "hitherto  recognised"  are  found  in  the  two  parts  of  that  play,  in 
Love's  Labour's  Lost,  and  in  Hamlet.  Since  Love's  Labour's  Lost  was  revised 
in  1597,  the  date  also  of  /  Henry  IV,  the  period  beginning  about  that  time  seems 
particularly  likely.  Mackail  goes  still  further  in  this  direction,  asserting  that 
"in  the  large  majority  of  the  Sonnets,  the  power  of  thought,  the  charged  ful- 
ness of  language,  the  compressed  and  allusive  style,  are  qualities  not  of  the 
Sh.  of  Venus  &  Adonis,  not  of  the  Sh.  of  A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream;  .  .  . 


450  APPENDIX 

they  are  those  of  the  Sh.  who  has  fully  mastered  his  art  in  the  great  comedies, 
who  has  deepened  his  hold  on  life  and  the  human  soul  to  the  potency  of  the 
great  tragedies;  they  are  those  ...  of  the  Sh.  who  is  face  to  face  with  the  whole 
vexing  sorrow  of  the  world,  the  Sh.  who  was  writing  or  preparing  himself  to 
write  Hamlet  and  Troilus  &  Cressida."  (Lectures  on  Poetry,  p.  191.)  Gray 
emphasizes  the  likeness  between  the  Sonnets  and  the  theme  of  the  love  of  an 
older  man  for  a  younger  as  appearing  in  The  Merchant  of  Venice  —  "the  exal- 
tation of  friendship,  and  the  isolation  and  self-pity  of  Antonio."  He  also  notes 
the  Sonnets  mood  of  "out  of  favor  with  fortune  but  happy  in  love"  as  being 
closely  akin  to  that  of  Romeo,  and  adds,  "No  correspondence  of  phrase  could 
be  half  so  significant  as  this  amazing  similarity  of  idea."  Professor  Gray  finds, 
too,  as  we  have  seen,  that  the  significant  parallels  with  Love's  Labour's  Lost 
are  to  be  thought  of  as  belonging  to  the  revision  of  1597. 

Walsh  finds  the  argument  from  parallels  suggestive  of  rather  more  liberal 
•and  less  definite  results  than  have  been  inferred  by  most  of  those  who  have 
used  it.  "The  same  characteristics  that  have  led  the  editors  to  arrange  the 
plays  in  a  tolerably  well-agreed-upon  series  are  traceable  in  the  sonnets.  These 
characteristics  are,  that  in  his  early  writings  Sh.  showed  a  command  of  lan- 
guage superior  to  his  thought,  that  in  his  middle  period  his  language  and  thought 
matched  each  other,  and  that  in  his  last  period  his  thought  outran  the  power 
of  expression.  S.  129  exhibits  the  characteristic  of  the  last  period,  and  S.  145 
that  of  the  first  period,  as  plainly  as  do  the  Tempest  and  the  Comedy  of  Errors." 
(Intro.,  p.  31.)  His  conclusion  is  that  all  the  usual  tests  would  result  in  string- 
ing out  the  sonnets  "over  a  tract  of  time  beginning  at  least  as  early  as  1592 
and  extending  as  late  as  1603  and  possibly  1605."  This  is  in  harmony  with  the 
opinion  of  Furnivall,  who,  while  placing  the  Sonnets  between  the  second  and 
third  periods  of  the  plays,  said  that  he  believed  they  stretched  "over  many 
years."    (Intro.,  p.  lxvi.) 

Finally,  for  the  matter  of  parallels,  we  may  note  that  some  critics  reject  the 
whole  method  as  invalid.  Thus  Archer  sums  up  his  convictions  by  saying, 
"Like  occasions  beget  like  expressions,"  and  to  Gollancz's  remark  that  no 
long  time  could  have  elapsed  between  Romeo  &  Juliet  and  Sonnet  116  he  re- 
plies that  five  years  could  have  passed  quite  as  well  as  five  days.  (Fort.  Rev., 
n.s.,  62:  821.)  This  view  is  also  that  of  Swinburne,  if  one  may  judge  from  his 
mocking  account,  in  the  "  Report  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Newest  Sh. 
Society,"  of  a  proof  by  parallels  that  Love's  Labour's  Lost  and  Othello  are  of  the 
same  date.   (A  Study  of  Sh.,  Appendix.) 

Casting  up  accounts,  we  have  these  arguments  for  an  early  date: 

1.  By  far  the  larger  number  of  parallels  with  the  Sonnets  are  found  in  the 
poems  and  the  early  plays,  indicating  a  common  ground  both  for  ideas  and 
craftsmanship. 

2.  The  situation  in  the  Sonnets  is  also  paralleled  in  early  plays. 

3.  Ideas  and  images  in  the  Sonnets  are  paralleled  also  in  the  poetry  of  others 
who  wrote  early;  if  they  borrowed  from  Sh.,  he  must  have  written  very 


THE  DATE  OF  COMPOSITION  451 

early;  if  he  borrowed  from  Marlowe,  Sidney,  and  Daniel,  it  is  natural  to 
suppose  that  he  did  so  under  the  influence  of  comparatively  fresh  impres- 
sions. 

4.  Meres  mentions  Sh.'s  Sonnets  as  in  familiar  circulation  in  1598;  Jag- 
gard  prints  in  1599  two  which  have  been  thought  to  tell  the  whole  story. 

5.  The  melancholy  of  the  Sonnets  may  be  attributed  to  the  death  of  Sh.'s 
son  in  1596  or  to  the  ordinance  against  the  theatres  in  1597. 

6.  Sh.'s  allusions  to  the  sonnet  form  are  early,  and  it  is  unlikely  that  he 
should  have  begun  to  write  in  that  form  after  the  height  of  its  vogue  was  over. 

7.  To  this  we  may  add  the  Southampton  theory  of  the  friend,  for  those  to 
whom  that  seems  plausible. 

For  a  later  date,  in  Sh.'s  middle  period,  we  have  these  arguments: 

1.  Parallels  with  the  later  comedies  and  with  the  tragedies,  though  relatively 
few,  are  very  striking;  especially  note  the  theme  of  the  infidelity  of  woman. 

2.  The  theme  of  dark  beauty  in  Love's  Labour's  Lost  shows  some  evidence  of 
having  been  introduced  in  the  revision  of  1597. 

3.  The  maturity  of  thought  and  style  of  a  great  number  of  the  Sonnets 
points  to  the  period  of  the  poet's  developed  art. 

4.  The  sincere  ring  of  the  allusions  to  weariness  and  age  makes  it  doubtful 
that  this  "assumption  of  years"  is  wholly  fictitious  or  conventional. 

5.  The  melancholy  of  Sh.  is  quite  well  accounted  for  by  events  of  1601. 

6.  The  only  suspected  allusions  to  contemporary  events  are  commonly  re- 
ferred to  1 60 1  or  1603. 

7.  To  this  is  to  be  added  the  Pembroke  theory,  for  those  who  find  it  plausible. 
The  outcome  remains  uncertain.    Evidence  for  an  early  date  for  at  least  a 

certain  number  of  the  Sonnets  seems  to  preponderate;  but  this  need  not  be 
applied  to  the  whole  collection.  If  one  follows  the  division  made  by  Isaac  and 
others  into  conventional  and  original  groups,  remembering  also  that  the  Son- 
nets themselves  appear  to  refer  to  lapses  of  time  between  periods  of  composi- 
tion, the  seeming  plausibility  of  the  arguments  for  both  the  early  and  the 
middle  period  may  be  explained.  The  student's  opinion  as  to  the  date  of  the 
larger  number  of  the  Sonnets  will  probably  depend  on  his  judgment  respecting 
other  matters  which  are  equally  uncertain  with  that  of  chronology. 


The  following  table  outlines,  in  a  summary  and  necessarily  arbitrary  fashion, 
the  opinions  of  the  principal  editors  and  critics  who  have  discussed  the  ques- 
tion of  date.  A  single  date  followed  by  a  dash  indicates  the  earliest  limit  pro- 
posed, with  no  definite  view  as  to  a  terminus  ad  quern. 


ACHESON 

1 594-1 600 

Alden 

I59i  —  (chiefly  I593"97) 

Archer 

1597  — 

Beeching 

1597-1603 

Brandl 

1591-1603  (chiefly  1591-94) 

Butler 

1585-88 

452 


APPENDIX 

DOWDEN 

1592-1605 

Fleay 

1594-97 

GOLLANCZ 

1595-98 

Gray 

1595-99 

Isaac 

1589  — 

Lee 

1594-1603  (chiefly  1594) 

Maceail 

1 598-1 603 

Massey 

1 590-1 603 

Porter 

Before  1598 

Rolfe 

1597  — 

Sarrazin 

1592  —  (chiefly  1592-95) 

Stopes 

1592-96 

Tyler 

1598-1601 

Walsh 

1 592-1 603 

Wyndham 

1 598-1 603 

SOURCES  AND  ANALOGUES* 

The  age  of  discovery  of  sources  and  analogues  is  of  course  a  late  one,  and 
for  the  Sonnets  practically  nothing  was  done  in  this  direction  prior  to  the  last 
quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Malone,  to  be  sure,  had  remarked  that 
"in  these  compositions  Daniel's  Sonnets,  which  were  published  in  1592,  appear 
to  me  to  have  been  the  model  that  Sh.  followed."  (Boswell  ed.,  1821,  20:  217.) 
With  this  Drake  agreed,  emphasizing  Daniel's  influence  on  the  metrical  form 
of  the  sonnet,  and  observing  that  there  is  in  Daniel  "much  of  that  tissue  of 
abstract  thought,  and  that  reiteration  of  words,"  which  distinguish  the  Son- 
nets of  Sh.  (Sh.  and  his  Times,  2:  57.)  The  same  subject  was  developed  by 
Dowden,  in  his  edition  of  1881:  "In  reading  Sidney,  Spenser,  Barnes,  and 
still  more  Watson,  Constable,  Drayton,  and  others,  although  a  large  element 
of  the  art-pottery  of  the  Renascence  is  common  to  them  and  Sh.,  the  student 
of  Sh.'s  Sonnets  does  not  feel  at  home.  It  is  when  we  open  Daniel's  Delia  that 
we  recognize  close  kinship.  The  manner  is  the  same,  though  the  master  proves 
himself  of  tardier  imagination  and  less  ardent  temper.  Diction,  imagery, 
rhymes,  and,  in  sonnets  of  like  form,  versification,  distinctly  resemble  those 
of  Sh.  Malone  was  surely  right  when  he  recognized  in  Daniel  the  master  of 
Sh.  as  a  writer  of  Sonnets  —  a  master  quickly  excelled  by  his  pupil.  And  it  is 
in  Daniel  that  we  find  sonnet  starting  from  sonnet  almost  in  Sh.'s  manner, 
only  that  Daniel  often  links  poem  with  poem  in  more  formal  wise."  (Intro., 
p.  27.)  The  matter  was  carefully  examined  by  Isaac  in  his  article  in  the 
Jahrbuch  for  1882,  with  the  conclusion  that  Sh.  felt  the  influence  of  the  best 
work  of  Daniel,  but  rather  less  than  that  of  Surrey,  Sidney,  and  the  Italians. 
Finally,  Sh.'s  indebtedness  to  Daniel  was  emphasized  by  Sarrazin  in  his  Sh.'s 
Lehrjahre  (1897).  The  important  parallels  are  duly  noticed  in  the  commentary 
in  the  present  volume,  and  may  be  traced  by  reference  to  the  index.  But,  as 
appears  from  remarks  like  Dowden's,  in  this  case  the  alleged  resemblance  is 
not  so  much  dependent  on  striking  analogies  in  particular  sonnets  as  on  some 
general  similarity  of  tone  and  style.  Instances  of  similar  phrasing,  not  of  suf- 
ficient significance  to  be  recorded  in  the  notes,  may  nevertheless  have  a  cumu- 
lative effect.  Cf.,  for  example,  with  2,  2,  Delia  4,  8:  "Best  in  my  face,  where 
cares  hath  tilled  deep  furrows";  3,  10  with  Delia  29,  2:  "The  April  of  my 
years";  5,  7-8  with  Delia  37,  1-2: 

When  Winter  snows  upon  thy  golden  hairs, 
And  frost  of  Age  hath  nipped  thy  flowers  near; 
24,  2  with  Delia  13,  6-7: 

I  figured  on  the  table  of  my  heart 

The  goodliest  shape  that  the  world's  eye  admires; 

*  [The  first  portion  of  this  section,  concerning  English  sources,  is  based  on  a  still  unpublished 
paper  by  Miss  Ruth  Kelso,  A.  M.,  of  the  University  of  Illinois. —  Ed.] 


454  APPENDIX 

and  more  of  the  same  character.  Of  itself  none  of  these  parallels  is  especially 
striking.  Time's  furrows  is  a  sufficiently  familiar  notion;  cf.,  for  instance,  these 
lines  from  Turberville's  Epitaphs,  Epigrams,  etc.: 

For  crooked  age  his  wonted  trade  is  for  to  plough  the  face 
With  wrinkled  furrows,  that  before  was  chief  of  beauty's  grace. 

The  conceit  of  the  mistress's  picture  on  the  lover's  heart  is  employed  by  Watson, 
Sidney,  and  Spenser,  not  to  go  further.  The  case  is  strengthened,  however, 
by  the  general  method  of  Daniel's  treatment  of  one  of  Sh.'s  principal  themes, 
the  quick  decay  of  beauty  and  the  consequent  need  of  putting  it  to  use;  cf. 
Delia  35,  cited  in  the  notes  on  S.  1.  Other  themes  common  to  both  poets  are 
the  oppressiveness  of  night  to  the  lover,  and  the  eternizing  power  of  verse;  but 
these,  again,  were  common  also  to  the  body  of  sonnet  literature.  In  general, 
since  many  of  the  sonnets  by  Daniel  which  have  been  thought  to  resemble 
Sh.'s  were  published  in  1591  and  1592,  and  since  few  critics  would  date  Sh.'s 
as  early,  the  hypothesis  of  Daniel's  influence  is  not  improbable. 

In  connection  with  his  theory  that  the  latter  portion  of  Sh.'s  sonnet  col- 
lection is  concerned  with  Penelope,  Lady  Rich,  supposed  to  be  Sidney's 
"Stella,"  Massey  found  reason  to  develop  the  subject  of  parallels  between  the 
Sonnets  and  Sidney's  writings.  He  was  followed  in  Germany  by  Krauss, 
who  in  the  Jahrbuch  for  1881  pointed  out  many  such  parallels.  In  Massey 's 
later  work  (1888)  Sh.'s  indebtedness  to  Sidney  was  again  made  much  of:  "The 
earliest  sonnets  on  marriage  could  not  have  been  written  until  after  Sh.  had 
read  the  Arcadia"*  (p.  71);  "With  S.  14  the  likeness  to  or  borrowing  from 
[Astrophel  &  Stella]  begins"  (p.  74);  see  also  pp.  248-51  (of  The  Secret  Drama) 
for  a  comparison  of  the  sonnets  near  the  end  of  the  collection  with  Sidney's. 
Again  the  more  significant  of  Massey's  parallels  will  be  found  in  the  commentary 
in  this  edition.  This  subject  has  attracted  less  discussion  than  the  alleged 
influence  of  Daniel;  but  one  of  the  most  recent  commentators,  Brandl,  puts 
the  case  more  strongly  than  any  predecessor:  "[Sidney]  gave  him,  in  A.  &  S., 
the  example  of  celebrating  a  lady  with  eyes  of  black  —  the  opposite  of  beau- 
tiful, of  writing  of  her  as  married,  and  of  emphasizing  her  unhappy  marital 
relations.  .  .  .  Sidney  had  already  introduced  the  role  of  the  friend  who  warns 
against  illicit  passion;  Sh.  took  it  over  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be,  in  his  own 
person,  concerned  about  the  beloved  youth.  Sidney  had  already  opposed 
himself  to  rival  poets,  who  flaunted  'new-found  tropes'  and  'strange  similes,' 

*  Professor  Edwin  Greenlaw  has  lately  {Studies  in  Philology,  13: 135)  called  attention  to 
the  song  of  Geron,  Arcadia,  Book  1  (ed.  1590,  f.  94  b),  which  he  thinks  "parallels  the  first 
seventeen  sonnets  of  Sh.  so  closely  as  to  render  it  practically  certain  that  Sh.  had  it  in  mind." 
Cf.  especially  these  lines: 

Nature  above  all  things  requireth  this, 

That  we  our  kind  doo  labour  to  maintaine; 

Which  drawne-out  line  doth  hold  all  humane  blisse. 

Thy  father  justly  may  of  thee  complaine, 

If  thou  dx>  not  repay  his  deeds  for  thee, 

In  granting  unto  him  a  grandsires  gaine. 

Thy  common-wealth  may  rightly  grieved  be. 

Which  must  by  this  immortall  be  preserved. 

If  thus  thou  murther  thy  posteritie. 


SOURCES  AND  ANALOGUES  455 

while  he  would  write  only  what  appeared  in  reality;  this  was  developed  by 
Sh.  to  defence  against  a  particular  rival,  who  by  such  means  approached  his 
friend.  Censors,  guardian  angels,  old  stories,  the  politics  of  the  day,  astrology, 
natural  scenery,  legal  procedure,  play  a  part  in  Sidney's  verse,  and  in  like 
manner  with  Sh.'s;  the  former  speaks  of  his  official  duties  as  soldier  and  states- 
man, the  latter  of  his  calling  as  an  actor;  both  enjoy  enlarging  upon  their 
journeys  and  their  observations  while  journeying;  both  glance  at  remoter  ob- 
jects but  are  finally  led  back,  by  clever  turns,  to  the  person  beloved,  even  if 
these  turns  find  expression  in  artificial  or  far-fetched  form.  Sidney  had  not 
been  ashamed  to  confess  a  moral  error,  and  the  rhetoric  of  Sh.  seeks  to  outdo 
him  with  self-reproaches;  like  Sidney,  Sh.  has  employed  his  talents  inade- 
quately; and  as  Sidney  in  the  end  rejoices  that  by  means  of  his  troubles  in 
love  he  has  learned  the  difference  between  poison  and  true  love,  so  Sh.  finds 
content  (i  10)  in  the  fact  that  through  his  wanderings  he  has  won  a  second  youth 
of  the  heart.  .  .  .  Surely  the  appearance  of  the  Astrophel  sonnets  in  1591  must 
have  given  the  literary  impulse  for  Sh.'s  lyrical  poetry."  (Intro.,  pp.  xxxii-iii.) 
Again,  since  the  publication  of  Sidney's  sonnets  belongs  to  the  same  period  as 
that  of  Daniel's  earlier  collections,  it  is  plausible  that  Sh.  should  have  studied 
the  lyrical  conceits  of  the  one  with  those  of  the  other. 

A  third  inspirer  of  the  Sonnets  has  been  found  in  Drayton,  notably  by  Fleay, 
who  in  his  Biographical  Chronicle  (1891)  cited  many  parallels,  and  concluded: 
"  [Sh.]  has  at  least  three  corresponding  passages  with  him  for  one  with  any  other 
writer;  and  the  likeness  is  much  closer,  especially  in  those  parts  of  Drayton 
which  are  most  removed  from  commonplace.  It  is  impossible  here  to  give  full 
evidence;  but  any  one  who  will  saturate  himself  with  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  and  then 
read  Drayton's,  will  find,  as  I  have  done,  that  hardly  a  stanza  of  Drayton  has 
been  left  unused  by  Sh.;  and  as  we  cannot,  from  the  manifest  allusions  in  the 
sonnets  of  the  latter,  date  them  earlier  than  the  Dedication  to  Lucrece  (1594), 
which  was  printed  in  the  same  year  as  Idea's  Mirrour,  we  are  necessitated  to 
reject  the  alternative  hypothesis  that  Drayton  may  have  copied  Sh."  (2: 
230-31.)  But  Tyler  had  already  (1890),  while  admitting  some  of  the  resem- 
blances, observed  that  they  were  not  to  be  found  in  the  poems  of  Drayton  as 
published  in  1594,  but  appeared  first  in  his  volume  of  1599;  he  therefore  con- 
cluded that  in  the  interval  Drayton  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  Sh.'s  Son- 
nets, —  an  acquaintance  made  not  improbable  by  Meres's  well-known  remark 
as  to  their  circulation.  (Intro.,  pp.  30-42.)  This  argument  was  further  de- 
veloped by  Wyndham  (Poems,  1898,  p.  256),  who  remarked  on  further  imita- 
tions by  Drayton  in  poems  which  first  appeared  as  late  as  1619  (but  not  with- 
out error  here;  cf.  note  on  S.  116);  and  again  by  Beeching  (in  a  note  appended 
to  his  edition,  1904),  who  argued  that  Drayton  was  an  arch-imitator,  having 
first  written  sonnets  in  the  manner  of  Daniel,  then  in  that  of  Sidney,  then  in 
that  of  Sh.  (p.  133).  Beeching's  conclusion  is:  "If  a  poet  at  one  time  could 
write  so  like  Daniel  that  his  '  Clear  Ankor,  on  whose  silver-sanded  shore '  is  as 
good  and  as  characteristic  of  Daniel  as  any  sonnet  that  charming  writer  ever 
produced,  and  at  another  time  so  not  unlike  Sidney  that  his  'My  heart  was 


456  APPENDIX 

slain,  and  none  but  you  and  I'  suggest  at  once  the  A.  &  S.,  is  it  reasonable, 
when  in  turn  we  find  him  writing  in  the  school  of  Sh.,  that  he  should  be  ac- 
counted Sh.'s  master  and  not  his  pupil?"  (p.  139.)  Lee,  on  the  other  hand, 
supports  the  position  of  Fleay:  "The  whole  of  Drayton's  century  of  sonnets, 
except  twelve,  were  in  print  long  before  1609,  and  it  could  easily  be  shown  that 
the  earlier  53,  published  in  1594,  supply  as  close  parallels  with  Sh.'s  sonnets  as 
any  of  the  47  published  subsequently.  Internal  evidence  suggests  that  all  but 
one  or  two  of  Drayton's  sonnets  were  written  by  him  in  1594,  in  the  full  tide 
of  the  sonneteering  craze.  Almost  all  were  doubtless  in  circulation  in  manu- 
script then.  .  .  .  Sh.  would  have  had  ready  means  of  access  to  Drayton's  manu- 
script collection."  (Life,  p.  no  n.)  Finally,  Elton  (Michael  Drayton,  1905) 
views  the  matter  as  uncertain,  but  tends  to  support  the  position  of  Wyndham 
and  Beeching,  on  the  ground  that  "the  passages  in  Drayton  with  that  deeper 
sound,  which  we  have  learnt  to  call  Shakespearean,  hardly  begin  till  his  edi- 
tions of  1599  or  1602.  ...  It  is  natural  to  think  that  Drayton,  glancing  round 
after  his  assimilative  fashion,  early  caught  some  deep  accents  and  noble 
rhythms  from  Sh.'s  poems,  which  he,  like  others,  may  have  seen  unprinted" 
(pp.  56-58).  All  which  goes  to  show  that  in  this  instance,  no  matter  what 
amount  of  parallelism  is  noted,  inferences  regarding  borrowing  are  unsafe. 
The  resemblances  are  in  part,  again,  of  the  nature  of  current  conceit-themes: 
identity  of  lover  and  friend,  the  madness  of  the  lover,  the  supreme  beauty  of 
the  beloved,  the  eternizing  power  of  verse,  and  the  like.  In  part  they  affect 
details  of  imagery  and  phrasing;  for  examples,  see  the  index  to  the  commentary 
as  usual.  With  Sonnets  33-34  (to  note  one  or  two  instances  not  mentioned 
in  the  notes)  have  been  compared  some  lines  from  Drayton's  S.  60: 

Behold  the  clouds  which  have  eclipsed  my  sun! 
And  view  the  crosses  which  my  course  do  let ! 
Tell  me,  if  ever  since  the  world  begun 
So  fair  a  rising  had  so  foul  a  set? 

The  parallel  may  have  interest,  but  surely  little  evidence  of  borrowing.  With 
S.  107,  much  mooted  for  other  reasons,  has  been  compared  Drayton's  51: 

Calling  to  mind  since  first  my  Love  begun, 
The  uncertain  times,  oft  varying  in  their  course; 
How  things  still  unexpectedly  have  run, 
As  it  please  the  Fates,  by  their  resistless  force; 
Lastly,  mine  eyes  amazedly  have  seen 
Essex's  great  fall,  Tyrone  his  peace  to  gain, 
The  quiet  end  of  that  long  living  Queen, 
This  King's  fair  entrance,  and  our  peace  with  Spain, 
We  and  the  Dutch  at  length  ourselves  to  sever; 
Thus  the  world  doth  and  evermore  shall  reel : 
Yet  to  my  goddess  am  I  constant  ever ! 
In  case  Sh.'s  sonnet  contains  those  allusions  to  contemporary  events  which 
many  have  supposed,  the  parallel  is  surely  an  interesting  one;  but  the  point  in 


SOURCES  AND  ANALOGUES  457 

the  one  case,  even  then,  is  different  from  that  of  the  other.  With  S.  134,  7-11, 
a  parallel  has  been  found  in  Drayton's  3,  9-14: 

And  thus  mine  eye  a  debtor  to  thine  eye, 
Which  by  extortion  gaineth  all  their  looks; 
My  heart  hath  paid  such  grievous  usury, 
That  all  their  wealth  lies  in  thy  Beauty's  books. 
And  all  is  thine  which  hath  been  due  to  me; 
And  I  a  bankrupt,  quite  undone  by  thee. 

But  the  abundant  use  of  legal  imagery  in  the  various  sonnet  cycles  deprives 
this  analogy  of  any  independent  suggestiveness.  Even  more  conventional  is 
the  representation  of  love  as  "frantic-mad,"  in  S.  147,  which  has  been  com- 
pared with  Drayton's  S.  9:  "I  am  lunatic!"  — the  playfulness  of  the  latter 
being  in  strong  contrast  with  the  tone  of  Sh.'s.  Of  the  analogies  mentioned  in 
the  commentary,  the  most  interesting  are  those  found  in  Sonnets  46  (with 
Drayton's  33,  on  eye  and  heart),  116  (with  Drayton's  43,  on  the  plowman 
and  the  star),  and  144  (with  Drayton's  20,  on  the  "evil  spirit  your  beauty"). 
In  all  these  cases  the  similarity  of  phrasing  is  decidedly  suggestive,  but  see 
the  notes,  especially  on  the  last  two,  for  comment  on  its  elusiveness.  It  is  par- 
ticularly odd  that  the  "evil  spirit"  of  Drayton  should  have  been  viewed  as  so 
conclusively  related  to  Sh.'s  "two  loves";  in  the  one  case  the  terms  "angel" 
and  "devil"  are  applied  to  the  same  person,  in  the  other  case  to  different 
persons,  the  former  being  a  sufficiently  familiar  type  of  conceit,  the  latter  a 
wholly  novel  situation.*  Finally,  we  may  note  Drayton's  S.  44,  perhaps  the 
most  closely  Shakespearean  of  them  all,  not  so  much  in  detailed  phrasing  as 
in  general  theme  and  style: 

Whilst  thus  my  pen  strives  to  eternize  thee, 

Age  rules  my  lines  with  wrinkles  in  my  face; 

Where,  in  the  map  of  all  my  misery, 

Is  modeled  out  the  world  of  my  disgrace: 

Whilst  in  despite  of  tyrannizing  times, 

Medea-like,  I  make  thee  young  again, 

Proudly  thou  scorn'st  my  world-outwearing  rhymes, 

And  murder'st  virtue  with  thy  coy  disdain. 

And  though  in  youth  my  youth  untimely  perish, 

To  keep  thee  from  oblivion  and  the  grave, 

Ensuing  ages  yet  my  rhymes  shall  cherish, 

Where  I  entomb'd  my  better  part  shall  save; 

And  though  this  earthly  body  fade  and  die, 

My  name  shall  mount  upon  eternity. 

*  Still  less  reason  is  there  to  draw  a  parallel  between  Drayton's  S.  10  and  Sh.'s  collection, 
as  has  been  done  on  the  ground  that  it  appears  to  have  been  addressed  to  a  young  man  ("  To 
nothing  fitter  can  I  thee  compare  Than  to  the  son  of  some  rich  penny-father").  There  is  not 
the  slightest  reason  to  suppose  that  it  does  not  concern  a  woman  v  like  all  the  others;  the  compari- 
son with  prodigal  son  is  sufficiently  explained  by  the  fact  that  there  is  no  such  type  as  a  prodi- 
gal daughter. 


458  APPENDIX 

Other  sonneteers  than  Drayton  were  introduced  as  sources  for  Sh.  by  Lee: 
"The  thoughts  and  words  of  the  sonnets  of  Daniel,  Drayton,  Watson,  Barnabe 
Barnes,  Constable,  and  Sidney  were  assimilated  by  Sh.  in  his  poems  as  con- 
sciously and  with  as  little  compunction  as  the  plays  and  novels  of  contempo- 
raries in  his  dramatic  work."  {Life,  p.  109.)  Of  these  men,  Lee's  peculiar 
emphasis  is  laid  on  Barnes;  thus,  in  his  Introduction  to  Elizabethan  Sonnets 
(1904)  he  observes,  "Constantly  [Barnes]  strikes  a  note  which  Sh.  clearly 
echoes  in  fuller  tones."  (1 :  lxxv-vi.)  The  use  of  conceits  drawn  from  legal  pro- 
cedure, and  of  puns,  are  the  chief  specifications.  (See  the  index,  as  usual,  for 
particular  passages.)  But  these,  according  to  Lee's  own  argument,  are  among 
the  practically  universal  conventions  of  the  age;  and  it  would  be  hard  to  find 
a  sonnet  style  more  different  from  Sh.'s,  in  general,  than  that  of  Barnes.  No 
other  critic  finds  him  a  plausible  source. 

The  three  sonnets  which  furnish  suggestive  parallels  to  Constable's  verse  are 
24,  99,  and  106  (see  the  notes  for  details).  This  is  another  instance  where  it  is 
difficult  to  discriminate  between  conventional  and  individual  elements;  and  it 
will  be  noted  that  in  at  least  one  sonnet  (106)  it  has  been  argued  that  Constable 
is  the  borrower. 

For  an  instance  of  possible  borrowing  from  Giles  Fletcher's  Licia  (1593),  also 
noted  by  Lee,  see  notes  on  S.  153. 

To  Lee's  list  W.  C.  Hazlitt  added  the  name  of  Barnfield,  believing  that  it 
was  the  latter's  Affectionate  Shepherd  (1594)  which  suggested  to  Sh.  the  writing 
of  sonnets  to  a  young  man  (Sh.,  Himself  &  his  Work,  ed.  19 12). 

Finally,  a  number  of  parallels  have  been  noted  for  the  Sonnets  and  Marlowe's 
Hero  &  Leander,  especially  by  Isaac  in  his  article  in  the  Jahrbuch  for  1884. 
Isaac  (see  note  on  S.  4)  was  disposed  to  view  Marlowe  as  the  borrower,  but 
Anders  (Sh.'s  Books,  1904,  pp.  90-100)  argues  plausibly  for  Sh.'s  indebted- 
ness.* 

Turning  to  the  matter  of  foreign  sources  and  analogues,  we  find,  of  course, 
very  great  difficulty  in  disentangling  the  matter  of  special  influences  from  the 
general  question  of  the  Renaissance  lyric.  Isaac,  for  example,  in  his  articles 
in  Herrig's  Archiv  for  1879  and  the  Jahrbilcher  of  1882  and  1884,  makes  much 
of  the  Italian  elements  in  what  he  takes  to  be  Sh.'s  earlier  sonnets,  with 
special  emphasis  on  Petrarch  and  Tasso,  but  without  exact  consideration  of 
the  evidences  respecting  Sh.'s  probable  acquaintance  with  the  Italian  sonnets. 
In  recent  times  Sir  Sidney  Lee  has  become  the  chief  authority  in  this  field, 
and  has  emphasized  the  influence  of  the  French,  but  again  with  some  vague- 
ness as  to  the  matter  of  direct  and  indirect  sources  for  Sh.  The  conceits  of  the 
Renaissance  lyric,  he  tells  us,  "figure  in  Sh.'s  pages  clad  in  the  identical  livery 
that  clothed  them  in  the  sonnets  of  Petrarch,  Ronsard,  De  Baif,  and  Desportes, 
or  of  English  disciples  of  the  Italian  and  French  masters.  .  .  .  Such  resem- 
blances as  are  visible  between  Sh.'s  sonnets  and  those  of  Petrarch  or  Desportes 
seem  due  to  his  study  of  the  English  imitators  of  those  sonneteers.  Most  of 
Ronsard's  900  sonnets  and  many  of  his  numerous  odes  were  accessible  to  Sh. 
*  In  general  Anders  explicitly  slights  the  subject  of  the  sources  of  the  Sonnets. 


SOURCES  AND  ANALOGUES  459 

in  English  adaptations,  but  there  are  a  few  signs  that  Sh.  had  recourse  to  Ron- 
sard  direct."  {Life,  pp.  no-ii.)  In  his  work  on  The  French  Renaissance  in 
England  Lee  recurs  to  the  subject:  "In  Sh.'s  sonnets  no  instances  of  exact 
translation  or  direct  imitation  [of  the  poetry  of  the  Pleiade]  appear.  But  thought 
and  expression  occasionally  resemble  French  effort  closely  enough  to  suggest 
that  the  processes  of  assimilation  wrought  at  times  on  Sh.'s  triumphant  achieve- 
ment in  much  the  same  way  as  on  the  mass  of  the  sonneteering  efforts  of  his 
day.  Constantly  Sh.  seems  to  develop  with  magnificent  power  and  melody 
a  familiar  theme  of  foreign  suggestion."  (p.  266.)  Special  themes  of  this  char- 
acter are  the  urging  of  youthful  beauty  to  propagate  itself,  the  praise  of  patrons, 
the  denunciation  of  false  mistresses,  and  the  poetic  vaunt  of  immortality.  In 
addition  to  the  various  passages  cited  in  the  commentary  from  Lee,  he  notes 
(as  a  parallel  for  S.  104)  a  sonnet  by  Vauquelin  de  la  Fresnaie: 

La  terre  ia  trois  fois  s'est  desaisie 

De  sa  verdure,  et  ia  de  leurs  vertus 

Se  sont  trois  fois  les  arbres  dev£tus, 

Depuis  qu'a  toi  s'est  mon  ame  asservie;  * 

again,  on  the  theme  of  "unthrifty  loveliness,"  a  sonnet  by  Amadis  Jamyn: 

Si  la  beaute  perist,  ne  l'esparge,  maistresse, 
Tandis  qu'elle  fleurist  en  sa  jeune  vigueur; 
Crois  moi,  je  te  supply,  devant  que  la  vieillesse 
Te  sillonne  le  front,  fais  plaisir  de  ta  fleur; 

and  again,  in  praise  of  a  patron,  a  sonnet  by  Etienne  Jodelle: 

Combien  que  veu  ton  sang,  ton  rang,  ton  abondance, 

Serviteur  je  te  sois:  j'ose  prendre  envers  toy 

Un  nom  plus  haut,  plus  digne,  et  plus  grand,  puis  qu'd  moy 

Tu  daignes  t'abaissant  en  donner  la  puissance. 

Je  suis  done  ton  ami,  mais  tel  que  l'excellence 

Du  beau  mot  n'orgueillit  mon  devoir  ny  ma  foy: 

Car  plus  que  mille  serfs  je  puis  ce  que  je  doy 

Payer,  et  croy  qu 'amour  doit  toute  obeissance. 

For  the  vituperative  sonnets  of  Jodelle,  see  the  notes  on  Sonnets  127  and 
147.  For  the  theme  of  poetic  immortality,  both  Ronsard  and  Du  Bellay  fur- 
nish notable  parallels,  as  may  be  traced  through  the  index  to  the  commentary. 
On  the  other  hand,  for  some  observations  as  to  the  contrast  between  Sh.'s  use 
of  these  themes  and  that  characteristic  of  his  predecessors,  too  little  remarked 
by  Lee,  one  should  compare  the  essay  of  E.  S.  Bates,  a  part  of  which  is  quoted 
above  under  General  Criticism. 

Lee's  theory  of  the  close  relationship  between  the  sonnets  of  Sh.  and  those 
of  the  Renaissance  lyrists  of  the  continent  receives  notable  support  in  the  re- 
cent article  by  Wolff  (Englische  Studien,  49:  161)  on  the  evidence  to  be  drawn 
from  a  study  of  Petrarchism  in  Italy.  In  Wolff's  view  there  is  hardly  a  char- 
acteristic theme  of  the  Sonnets  which  was  not  conventionally  familiar  in  the 


460  APPENDIX 

period.  Particular  analogies  of  interest  are  the  following:  the  glorifying  of  the 
object  of  the  poet's  love  as  a  type  of  all  beauty;  the  want  of  distinction  between 
male  and  female  beauty,  and  between  love  directed  toward  one  of  the  same  sex 
and  that  directed  toward  one  of  the  opposite  sex,  —  with  a  tendency,  however, 
to  preference  for  the  former,  as  being  free  from  ordinary  physical  passion; 
the  praise  of  manly  beauty  in  terms  commonly  associated  with  womanly 
charms,  notably  fair  skin  and  blond  hair;  the  doctrine  that  it  is  the  part  of 
beauty  to  propagate  itself;  the  willingness  to  demean  one's  self  before  a  patron 
even  to  the  point  of  self -contempt  and  self -accusation;  the  fashion  of  depreci- 
ating one's  own  poetry  in  comparison  with  that  of  rivals;  the  attitude  of 
melancholy,  with  scorn  of  life  and  desire  for  death;  the  disposition,  in  other 
moods,  to  rebel  against  the  conventional  standards,  and  to  celebrate  persons 
of  both  dark  beauty  and  doubtful  morals;  the  portrayal  of  a  conflict  between 
loves  of  opposite  character;  the  recognition  of  rivalry  in  love,  with  a  tendency 
to  forgive  and  even  to  yield  to  the  rival.  Particular  instances  cited  in  connec- 
tion with  some  of  these  themes  may  also  be  noted.  "Michelangelo  calls  Vit- 
toria  Colonna,  for  her  greater  honor,  grande  amico,  and  interprets  it  as  her 
highest  praise  that  she  is  uomo  in  una  donna."  "Tasso  writes  to  .  .  .  Leonora 
Sanvitale,  that  no  artist  would  be  able  to  preserve  her  likeness,  but  only  she 
herself  through  the  birth  of  a  son.  ...  He  warns  the  beautiful  Duke  of  Joyeuse 
not  to  fall  in  love  with  himself,  like  Narcissus,  as  Bernardo  Capello  admonishes 
his  beloved  that  God  had  not  given  her  beauty  that  she  should  hide  it  within 
herself."  "Annibal  Caro  is  so  wholly  submissive  to  the  will  of  his  lord,  that  he 
wishes  nothing,  thinks  nothing,  is  nothing,  apart  from  him."  "Sannazaro 
speaks  of  his  stato  indigno,  Giovanni  Guidiccione  of  his  misero  stato,  G.  Stampa 
represents  himself  as  brutta  e  vile,  Mezzabarba  as  rough  and  common,  and 
Philoxeno  (in  a  strambotto)  as  turpe  e  streno."  "Bembo  is  so  dazzled  with  the 
splendor  of  his  lord,  that  he  can  find  no  words.  Angelo  di  Costanzo  on  the 
other  hand  rebukes  the  pigro  sonno  of  his  Muse,  which  has  hindered  him  from 
fulfilling  his  duty,  and  Tansillo  is  dumb  because  so  many  other  poets  pay  hom- 
age to  his  patron."  "  Delia  Casa  praises  the  young  Antonio  Soranzo  as  his  sole 
light  and  comfort,  and  Christoforo  Madruzio  as  the  last  virtuous  soul  in  the 
ruined  world;  Bembo  calls  Trifon  Gabriele  a  surviving  evidence  of  the  golden 
age;  the  patron  of  Sannazaro  is  the  triumphant  renewer  of  a  former  time;  and 
Galeazzo  do  Tarsia  announces  that  with  his  Prospero  beauty  was  brought  to 
birth  and  done  away."  Molza  "finds  all  the  splendor  of  the  world  united  in 
Ippolito  de'  Medeci,  to  whom  his  spirit  wholly  belongs  and  follows  as  a  shadow. " 
"Bernardo  Tasso  is  consumed  with  passion  for  a  youth  without  whom  he 
cannot  live  and  wishes  to  die,  ...  as  Francesco  Coppetta  prays  his  friend  that 
he  will  restore  the  sun  of  his  eyes  and  illumine  his  night."  "Angelo  di  Costanzo 
calls  his  style  poor  and  weak,  and,  like  Sh.,  prefers  to  be  silent  rather  than  to 
injure  the  glory  of  his  patron  by  his  words.  .  .  .  Molza  recognizes  the  defects 
of  his  art,  which  can  only  be  raised  through  his  splendid  subject-matter,  the 
worth  of  his  lord."  "Bembo  places  the  art  of  Trissino  high  above  his  own; 
della  Casa  calls  himself  a  common  water-fowl,  Bembo  a  swan  in  contrast.  .  .  . 


SOURCES  AND  ANALOGUES  461 

In  the  same  way  Angelo  di  Costanzo  sets  his  incapacity  over  against  the  mag- 
nificence of  Antonio  Carafa."  Berni's  beloved  has  "silver  hair,  black  brows, 
white  lips,  and  so  on;  and  in  Petrarchista  the  pilgrim  returned  from  Vaucluse 
relates  that  he  had  been  shown  the  picture  of  Laura,  but  had  been  able  to 
discover  nothing  of  its  wonders  —  neither  snow,  nor  roses,  nor  gold."  "Poli- 
zian  pays  homage  to  his  Brunettina,  Tasso  calls  Leonore  Sanvitale  bruna,  ma 
bella,  and  in  a  sonnet  to  Giulia  Negri  he  plays  with  the  words  negra  and  alba. 
.  .  .  The  mistresses  of  Mezzabarba  and  Alamanni  have  dark  hair."  "Tasso 
declares  flatly  that  his  mistress  is  not  beautiful,  that  her  hair  is  not  golden; 
...  he  deplores  her  inconstancy  and  knows  that  she  scorns  him;  but  her  scorn 
and  her  hate  appear  to  him  better  than  the  kindness  of  others."  Alamanni 
"asserts  sadly  that  he  and  his  friend  love  the  same  lady.  Then  it  runs:  In- 
constant, not  to  say  faithless,  sweet  friend,  why  wilt  thou  destroy  the  old  nest 
of  my  thoughts?  In  the  same  way  he  bewails  in  a  madrigal  the  treachery  of  the 
friend."  Finally,  there  are  narratives  of  the  period,  notably  a  play  called 
Erofilomachia  or  Duello  oVAmore  e  d'Amicitia,  in  which  one  friend  turns  over 
to  another  the  lady  whom  he  loves;  in  the  prologue  to  this  Duello  it  is  pointed 
out  how  noble  it  is  to  possess  so  lofty  a  soul  as  to  prefer  friendship  to  one's  own 
desires.  All  this  (with  more,  of  course,  not  represented  here)  surely  forms  an 
impressive  support  for  those  who  emphasize  the  conventional  interpretation  of 
the  Sonnets  of  Sh.,  even  if  one  does  not  go  so  far  as  to  accept  Wolff's  conclusion 
that  they  give  us  "practically  nothing"  on  the  life  of  the  author,  except  what 
concerns  his  life  as  an  artist.  Wolff  does  not  assume  a  direct  borrowing  by 
Sh.  from  the  Italians,  but  rather  through  the  French  poets,  who  must  be 
further  studied  along  the  line  of  investigation  already  begun  by  Lee. 

Many  of  these  continental  influences  are,  of  course,  ultimately  platonic. 
The  more  definitely  platonic  and  neo-platonic  elements  in  the  Sonnets  were 
first  discussed  in  detail  by  Simpson,  in  his  interesting  essay  on  The  Philosophy 
of  Sh.'s  Sonnets  (1868);  see  his  notes  on  Sonnets  1,  22,  31,  etc.  Isaac  followed, 
in  Germany,  with  a  section  on  "Sh.  and  Plato"  in  his  article  in  Herrig's 
Archiv,  1879.  in  which  he  described  the  platonic  academies  of  the  Italian  Re- 
naissance. More  eccentrically,  but  with  no  little  learning,  the  nameless  author 
of  the  articles  on  "New  Views  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets"  in  Blackwood's  Magazine, 
1884-86,  represented  Sh.  as  a  devout  student  of  Dante,  and  also  noted  a  num- 
ber of  Elizabethan  media  for  the  influence  of  medieval  mysticism.  Wyndham, 
in  his  edition  of  the  Poems  (1898),  newly  emphasized  the  platonic  elements  in 
the  Sonnets  (see  especially  his  note  on  S.  37,  10),  comparing  them  with  those 
in  Spenser's  "Hymn  in  Honour  of  Beautie."  "Mr.  Walter  Raleigh,"  he  says, 
"has  pointed  out  to  me  that  Spenser  and  Sh.  must  have  been  familiar  with 
Hoby's  translation  of  Baldassare  Castiglione's  //  Cortegiano,  published  in 
1 56 1.  .  .  .  Plato's  theory  of  Beauty  had  been  ferried  long  before  from  Byzan- 
tium to  Florence,  and  had  there  taken  root.  .  .  .  And  from  Italy  young  noble- 
men, accredited  to  Italian  courts  or  traveling  for  their  pleasure,  had  brought 
its  influence  to  France  and  England.  .  .  .  Sh.  must  have  read  Spenser's  Hymn 
and  Hoby's  Courtier,  in  which  Plato,  Socrates,  and  Plotinus  are  all  instanced; 


462  APPENDIX 

the  phrase  —  genio  Socratem  —  applied  to  him  in  the  epitaph  on  his  monument 
attests  his  fondness  for  Platonic  theories,  and  in  the  Sonnets  he  addressed  a 
little  audience  equally  conversant  with  them;  it  is,  therefore,  not  surprising 
that  he  should  have  borrowed  their  terminology.  In  some  sonnets  he  does  so, 
but  the  Sonnets  are  not,  therefore,  as  some  have  argued,  an  exposition  of 
Plato's  theory  or  of  its  Florentine  developments.  Sh.  in  certain  passages  does 
but  lay  under  contribution  the  philosophy  of  his  time,  just  as,  in  other  passages, 
he  lays  under  contribution  the  art  and  occupations  of  his  time."  (Intro.,  pp. 
cxix-cxxii.)  The  same  subject  is  discussed  by  Brandes,  in  his  William  Sh. 
(1898;  1:  341-49).  Tyler,  in  his  edition  of  the  Sonnets  (1890),  emphasizes 
rather  the  mysticism  of  Giordano  Bruno,  believing  that  Sh.  may  have  derived 
from  him  the  doctrine  of  "the  soul  of  the  world"  and  the  doctrine  of  "cycles"; 
see  comment  on  this  doubtful  conjecture  in  the  notes  on  Sonnets  59  and  107. 
All  the  Renaissance  influences,  both  poetic  and  philosophic,  are  considered, 
with  some  analysis  of  the  leading  poetic  themes  connected  therewith,  in 
Klein's  article  on  "Foreign  Influence  in  Sh.'s  Sonnets"  in  the  Sewanee  Re- 
view, 1905. 

Of  classical  sources  the  only  notable  name  which  has  been  instanced,  aside 
from  Plato's,  is  that  of  Ovid.*  For  this  the  chief  authority  is  Lee's  article  in 
the  Quarterly  Review,  1909,  where  the  special  influence  on  Sh.  of  Golding's 
translation  is  emphasized.  See  the  index,  as  usual,  for  particular  references.! 
Certain  of  the  philosophic  themes  which  by  others  have  been  referred  to  the 
neo-platonists,  such  as  the  doctrine  of  "cycles,"  are  shown  by  Lee  to  be  ex- 
plicable by  reference  to  Ovid  alone.  Since  Sh.,  he  observes,  "was  no  professed 
metaphysician,"  we  may  explain  his  use  of  these  philosophic  subtleties  by  the 
digression  in  the  last  book  of  the  Metamorphoses.  "A  poetic  master's  inter- 
pretation of  Life  and  Eternity  involuntarily  claimed  the  respectful  attention 
of  a  loyal  disciple"  (p.  466).  Again:  "Some  of  the  ideas  common  to  Ovid  and 
Sh.  are  the  universal  food  of  poetry.  .  .  .  [Sh.]  by  no  means  stood  alone  among 
Elizabethan  poets  in  assimilating  Ovid's  Neo-Pythagorean  doctrine.  Nor  is 
the  cyclical  solution  of  Nature's  mysteries  the  exclusive  property  of  Ovid,  or 
of  his  Neo-Pythagorean  tutors;  it  is  shared  by  the  Stoics  and  the  Neo-Plato- 
nists.  But  the  poets  of  Europe  first  learnt  its  outlines  in  Ovid's  pages,  even  if 
curiosity  impelled  some  of  them  subsequently  to  supplement  Ovid's  informa- 
tion by  resort  to  metaphysical  treatises  of  one  or  other  of  the  Greek  schools 
and  to  current  Italian  adaptations  of  Neo-Pythagoreanism  or  Neo-Platonism  " 
(P.  474). 

Though  Lee  gives  evidence  in  this  essay,  as  commonly  when  source-hunting, 

*  But  note  also  the  (originally)  Greek  source  of  Sonnets  153-154;  see  the  commentary  thereon. 
J.  C.  Collins  instances  this  as  evidence  of  Sh.'s  classical  scholarship,  in  his  article,  "Had  Sh. 
Read  the  Greek  Tragedies?"  (Fortnightly  Review,  n.s„  73:  848);  and  some  of  the  Baconians,  per 
contra,  have  offered  it  as  proof  that  the  Sonnets  cannot  be  the  work  of  the  ignoramus  of  Strata 
ford-on-Avon. 

t  Von  Mauntz,  in  his  commentary  on  the  Sonnets,  also  provides  many  of  these  references, 
especially  to  the  Amores  and  other  elegies;  but  these  are  to  be  understood  not  as  suggesting  the 
source  of  Sh.'s  thought  so  much  as  the  analogous  treatment  of  similar  themes  —  particularly 
that  of  odi  et  amo.  On  the  other  hand,  Sh.'s  familiarity  with  Marlowe's  version  of  the  Amores 
may  be  fairly  assumed. 


SOURCES  AND  ANALOGUES  463 

of  magnifying  beyond  reason  the  theme  of  the  moment,  no  reader  will  quarrel 
with  his  final  comment,  nor  question  its  appropriateness  to  this  whole  discus- 
sion of  Sh.'s  sources:  "Critical  lovers  of  the  Sonnets,  who  recognise  in  them 
the  flower  of  poetic  fervour,  will  probably  be  content  to  draw,  from  the  fact 
of  Sh.'s  absorption  of  the  Ovidian  philosophy,  fresh  evidence  of  that  mirac- 
ulous sympathy  and  receptivity  whereby 

all  the  learnings  that  his  time 
Could  make  him  the  receiver  of,  .  .  .  he  took, 
As  we  do  air,  fast  as  't  was  ministered, 
And  in  's  spring  became  a  harvest." 


THE  FRIEND  * 

The  commentary  on  the  Dedication  sets  forth  the  various  interpretations 
of  it  as  a  sentence,  and  of  the  meaning  of  the  word  "begetter."  The  sentence 
has,  for  the  most  part,  been  understood  to  mean  that  Thorpe  wished  "Mr. 
W.  H."  happiness  and  "eternity";  the  word  "begetter"  has  been  rendered 
both  as  "inspirer"  and  as  "procurer."  Because  of  the  importance  of  the 
Dedication  in  influencing  theories  concerning  the  friend  to  whom  many  —  if 
not  most  —  of  the  Sonnets  were  addressed,  it  may  be  taken  as  a  basis  for  a 
classification  of  those  who  have  written  on  the  subject  of  this  friend's  identity. 
Three  groups  may  be  roughly  distinguished. 

1.  Those  who  comprise  the  first  group  make  much  of  the  Dedication.  They 
believe  that  Mr.  W.  H.  and  the  young  man  whom  Sh.  sonnetized  are  identical, 
and  that,  with  the  initials  as  a  hint,  we  can  put  our  finger  upon  the  individual. 
Some  find  him  in  William  Herbert,  Earl  of  Pembroke;  others  present  such 
varied  names  as  William  Harte,  William  Hughes,  William  Hammond,  William 
Hall,  and  (mystically  understood)  William  Himself;  still  others  propose  Wil- 
liam Shakespeare,  regarding  "H"  as  a  misprint  for  "S";  and  others,  finally, 
Henry  Wriothesley,  Earl  of  Southampton,  viewing  the  initials  as  reversed  as 
a  blind.   All  these  interpret  "begetter"  as  "inspirer." 

2.  The  critics  in  the  second  group  do  not  attach  so  much  importance  to  the 
Dedication.  "Mr.  W.  H."  may  offer  corroborative  evidence  as  to  the  identity 
of  the  friend,  but  is  not  himself  the  friend.  Characteristic  of  this  group  are 
those  who  find  the  friend  in  Southampton,  but  take  Mr.  W.  H.  to  be  a  mere 
"procurer,"  —  William  Hall,  a  stationer's  assistant;  or  William  Hathaway,  Sh.'s 
brother-in-law;  or  Sir  William  Hervey,  who  married  Southampton's  mother. 

3.  The  third  body  of  students  find  even  less  to  influence  them  in  the  Dedica- 
tion than  do  those  belonging  to  the  second  group.  They  adopt  varying  posi- 
tions, some  avoiding  the  search  for  a  friend  by  means  of  such  theories  as  that 
the  Sonnets  are  an  allegory  or  that  they  are  a  work  of  fiction,  others  admitting 
his  existence  but  holding  that  there  is  no  evidence  warranting  speculation 
as  to  his  identity. 

Having  indicated  these  general  positions,  we  may  proceed  to  consider  the 
evidence  brought  forward  by  the  members  of  the  first  and  second  groups 
just  described. 

I.  The  Pembroke  Theory 

This  theory  was  proposed  by  Bright  (1819)  and  Boaden  (1832),  and  reached 
its  height  in  Tyler's  presentation  (1890).    Since  then,  the  attacks  of  Lee, 
Beeching,  and  others  have  somewhat  weakened  it.    As  the  arguments  for  Pem- 
*  [This  section  was  prepared  by  Mr.  Frank  E.  Hill,  A.M.  —  Ed  J 


THE   FRIEND 


465 


broke  as  the  friend,  and  for  his  chief  rival  Southampton,  have  been  widely  scat- 
tered, and  frequently  veiled  under  misleading  verbiage,  it  seems  worth  while  to 
set  down  in  compact  and  definite  form  the  principal  evidence  offered  for  and 
against  both  these  hypotheses.  In  the  following  outlines,  sources  and  author- 
ities are  briefly  indicated  where  it  is  practicable  to  do  so;  —  usually  the  origi- 
nator of  the  argument  or  objection  in  question,  sometimes  the  one  who  has 
first  developed  a  long  standing  but  apparently  negligible  idea  into  something 
worthy  of  consideration.  Fuller  references  to  these  sources  can  be  traced  in 
the  Bibliography.* 


A  rguments  for  Pembroke 

I.  The  Dedication  offers  evidence 
that  the  friend's  initials  were  W.  H., 
since  he  is  spoken  of  as  the  "begetter " 
or  inspirer  of  the  Sonnets  (Boaden, 
Dowden)  ;  he  is  also  wished  the  "eter- 
nity" which  Sh.  had  promised  him. 


II.  Sonnets  135,  136,  and  143  indi- 
cate that  the  friend's  name  is  "Will," 
as  more  than  one  person  of  that  name 
is  implied  (Dowden). 


III.  Pembroke  fits  the  require- 
ments of  the  name,  for  he  was  known 
as  William  Herbert  until  1601  (Boa- 
den). The  "Mr."  is  not  a  bar,  for 
Thorpe  may  have  found  "W.  H."  on 
the  MS.  and  have  added  the  "Mr." 
(Dowden),  or  he  may  have  added  it 
as  a  disguise  (Archer). 


IV.  Both  Sonnets  and  Dedication 
suggest  that  the  friend  is  a  nobleman. 
S.  37  speaks  of  "birth '"and  "wealth" 
(Tyler);  36  of  "public  kindness"  and 
"honour"  (Boaden); 49, 69,  70,71,72, 
95,  96  in  a  general  way,  and  78,  79,  80, 
85,  86  in  connection  with  the  homage 
of  poets,  indicate  prominence  of  sta- 
tion (Boaden,  Tyler).  The  tone  of 
the  Dedication  also  implies  some  social 
standing  (Beeching). 

V.  Pembroke's  age  fits  the  demands 
of  the  Sonnets,  for  the  evidence  points 
to  a  date  of  composition  running  from 
1598  to  1 60 1.  Pembroke  was  18  in 
1598,  and  is  known  to  have  been  urged 
to  marry  in  1597-98  (Tyler).  His  being 


Objections  to  Pembroke 

I.  The  Dedication  offers  no  evi- 
dence that  the  friend's  initials  were 
W.  H.,  for  "begetter"  means  pro- 
curer (Drake);  while  "eternity" 
could  not  appropriately  be  wished  to 
the  friend,  who  was  already  assured 
of  his  eternity  through  the  praise  of 
an  "  ever-living  poet." 

II.  The  "Will"  sonnets  do  not  refer 
to  more  than  one  person  of  the  name, 
but  play  upon  the  name  of  Sh.  and  the 
common  meanings  "determination" 
and   "desire"  (Lee). 

III.  Pembroke  does  not  fit  the  re- 
quirements of  the  name,  for  he  was 
known  as  Lord  Herbert  to  1601,  and 
Earl  of  Pembroke  thereafter;  to  ad- 
dress him  as  "Mr."  would  have  been 
a  star-chamber  offence  (Stopes,  Lee). 
Moreover,  Thorpe's  dedication  to 
Pembroke  in  1616  shows  that  he  gave 
full  titles  in  addressing  nobility 
(Stopes). 

IV.  Nobility  is  not  implied  by 
either  Sonnets  or  Dedication,  the  most 
that  can  be  inferred  being  a  position 
socially  higher  than  an  actor  or  printer 
(Butler,  Beeching).  Pronouns  of 
address,  and  other  evidences  of  inti- 
macy on  equal  terms,  make  a  noble 
station  very  improbable  (Jusserand, 
Gray). 


V.  The  evidence  points  to  a  date, 
or  abates,  between  1593  and  1596,  with 
special  probability  attaching  to  the 
time  when  the  sonnet  vogue  was  at  its 
height,  viz.,  about  1594.  At  this  time 
Pembroke  was  but  14.    On  the  other 


*  See  also  in  the  section  on  the  Date  of  Composition,  pp.  441-52  above,  an  outline  of  the  sig- 
nificant details  in  the  lives  of  Southampton  and  Pembroke. 


466 


APPENDIX 


Sh.'s  junior  by  16  years  also  corre- 
sponds to  the  language  of  a  number  of 
the  Sonnets. 

VI.  Pembroke's  person  corresponds 
with  the  youth  of  the  Sonnets,  for 
Anthony  a  Wood  and  Clarendon  tes- 
tify to  his  impressive  appearance  in 
later  years,  and  a  poem  of  Davison's 
(1602)  notes  his  "outward  shape"  as 
being  "most  lovely"  (Tyler). 


VII.  Pembroke's  character  corre- 
sponds with  that  of  the  youth  of  the 
Sonnets,  for  he  was  both  sensual  and 
a  lover  of  poets  (Boaden,  Tyler). 

VIII.  Heminge  and  Condell  dedi- 
cated the  Folio  plays  to  Pembroke 
(and  his  brother)  in  1623,  and  men- 
tioned his  having  "prosecuted  both 
them,  and  their  author  living,  with  so 
much  favour"  (Boaden). 

IX.  Pembroke's  connection  with 
the  "dark  lady"  is  indicated  by  the 
evidence,  for  he  had  illicit  relations 
with  Mary  Fitton,  maid  of  honor  to 
the  Queen,  whose  character  corre- 
sponds closely  with  that  of  Sh.'s  mis- 
tress; Will  Kemp's  dedication  to  her 
of  his  Nine  Dales  Wonder  also  suggests 
acquaintance  between  her  and  Sh. 
(Tyler).  The  dark  lady  of  a  number 
of  the  plays  also  corresponds  with 
Mrs.  Fitton  (Harris). 


hand,  Southampton  came  of  age  and 
was  still  unmarried  in  1594  (Lee). 


VI.  Wood's  and  Clarendon's  de- 
scriptions give  no  impression  of 
beauty,  and  Davison's  tribute  is  a 
cautious  qualification  (Lee).  Pem- 
broke's hair,  too,  was  dark,  whereas 
that  of  the  hero  of  the  Sonnets  is  com- 
pared with  reddish  buds  of  marjoram 
(Stopes). 

VII.  Southampton's  character  fits 
the  case  at  least  as  well  (see  argu- 
ments for  Southampton). 


VIII.  The  Folio  dedication  has 
little  weight,  being  purely  formal;  and 
Pembroke,  being  Lord  Chamberlain 
at  the  time,  was  the  only  logical  choice 
(Lee). 


IX.  Pembroke's  mistress  cannot 
be  identified  with  the  "dark  lady." 
S.  152  indicates  that  the  latter  was 
married,  and  Mrs.  Fitton  had  not 
been  married  at  the  time  in  question 
(cf.  Chambers,  Academy,  July  31, 
1897);  moreover,  Mary  Fitton  seems 
not  to  have  been  dark  (cf.  Bridge- 
man,  in  appendix  to  Lady  Newdigate- 
Newdegate's  Gossip  from  a  Muniment 
Room,  2d  ed.;  Lee;  Beeching). 
Kemp's  dedication,  so  far  from  indi- 
cating intimacy  with  Mrs.  Fitton, 
mistakes  her  Christian  name  (Lee). 


The  negative  evidence  here  appears  to  be  at  least  as  strong  as  the  positive. 
At  best,  the  case  for  Pembroke  rests  upon  a  purely  inferential  kind  of  cir- 
cumstantial evidence,  and  practically  no  part  of  it  remains  unassailed.  It 
is  noteworthy  that  it  depends,  first  of  all,  upon  a  relatively  late  date  for  the 
composition  of  the  Sonnets.  If  this  be  accepted,  the  disparity  of  years  between 
Sh.  and  Pembroke  is  favorable  to  the  claim  of  the  latter;  and  the  Folio  dedica- 
tion makes  it  at  least  possible  that  Sh.,  after  1594,  changed  patrons.  But  this 
claim  is  weakened,  rather  than  strengthened,  by  its  connection  with  the  Mary 
Fitton  theory,  which  may  be  said  to  have  been  disproved.  Tyler's  argument 
for  this  goes  far  to  upset  itself.  The  lady  is  introduced  in  order  to  strengthen 
Pembroke's  claim  to  be  called  the  friend.  Now  if  we  could  point  to  a  woman 
who  was  both  Sh.'s  mistress  and  Pembroke's  mistress,  we  might  agree  that 
Pembroke's  claim  was  strengthened,  though  even  then  it  might  be  argued 
that,  when  the  woman  in  the  caseis called  "the  bay  where  all  men  ride,"  there 
is  room  for  much  uncertainty.  Tyler,  however,  does  not  provide  the  least 
we  could  expect  as  proof,  —  namely,  that  Mrs.  Fitton  was  both  Sh.'s  and 


THE  FRIEND 


467 


Pembroke's  mistress.  He  does  show  that  she  was  Pembroke's,  and  attempts 
(without  great  success)  to  show  that  her  character  matches  that  of  the  siren 
of  the  poems.  Then,  forgetting  that  he  had  called  forth  Mrs.  Fitton  in  order 
to  prove  Pembroke  the  friend,  and  feeling  —  what  is  true  —  that  before  she 
can  be  of  use  to  him  she  must  be  definitely  proved  the  "dark  lady,"  he  alleges 
that,  because  Pembroke  was  the  friend,  therefore  his  mistress  was  Sh.'s  mis- 
tress (the  friend  might  have  had  more  than  one,  but  let  us  pass  that),  there- 
fore she  was  the  "dark  lady."    Pembroke,  therefore  (finally),  was  the  friend! 

II.  The  Southampton  Theory 

This  theory,  since  its  proposal  by  Drake  (18 17),  has  maintained  a  brave 
front  with  the  exception  of  the  period  1 890-1 898,  when  it  seemed  likely  that 
Tyler  would  establish  the  claims  of  Pembroke.  Lee's  Life  of  Sh.  (1898)  gave 
new  life  to  Drake's  hypothesis,  which  has  all  along  had  more  advocates  in 
Germany,  if  not  in  England,  than  the  Pembroke  theory.  The  principal  argu- 
ments may  be  outlined  as  follows: 


Arguments  for  Southampton 

I.  General  evidence  favors  a  date 
of  composition,  for  the  Sonnets,  of 
about  1594,  the  height  of  the  sonnet 
vogue;  and  at  this  period  Southamp- 
ton was  Sh.'s  avowed  patron  (cf. 
dedications  to  V.  &  A.  and  Lucrece) ; 
indeed  there  is  no  evidence  pointing 
to  any  other  (Drake,  Lee). 


II.  The  Sonnets  give  evidence  of 
being  addressed  to  a  patron,  for  they 
are  conventional  in  form,  in  their  use 
of  the  theme  of  immortality,  etc.  Some 
twenty  of  them  are  dedicatory  in  na- 
ture, and  Sonnets  26,  32,  38  express 
in  verse  the  prose  sentiments  of  the 
Lucrece  dedication  (Drake,  Lee). 


III.  There  is  also  evidence  of  a 
warmer  relationship  between  the  two 
men  than  that  of  poet  and  patron,  for 
Anthony  a  Wood  speaks  of  South- 
ampton's generosity  to  Sh.,  and  Sh., 
in  the  dedication  of  Lucrece,  tells  of 
the  "love  without  end"  which  he 
bears  his  patron,  and  assures  him 
that  "what  I  have  is  yours  "  (Drake, 
Lee). 

V.  Southampton's  age  and  situa- 
tion are  appropriate  for  the  friend  of 
the  Sonnets,  for  in  1594  he  was  21,  and 
was  still  unmarried  (Lee);  moreover, 
his  father  had  died  when  he  was  a 
child,   a  circumstance  corresponding 


Arguments  against  Southampton 

I.  It  is  very  doubtful  whether  most 
of  the  Sonnets  were  written  as  early 
as  1594  (Beeching,  etc.;  see  under 
Date);  and  there  is  no  evidence  that 
Southampton's  patronage  continued 
throughout  the  later  period.  In  1598- 
1603  the  Sonnets  could  hardly  have 
been  addressed  to  Southampton  (Boa- 
den,  Tyler). 

II.  There  is  no  certainty  that  the 
Sonnets  celebrate  a  patron;  their  con- 
ventionality has  been  exaggerated," and 
the  "dedicatory  sonnets"  are  not 
necessarily  dedicatory  at  all  (Beech- 
ing). Sonnets  26,  etc.,  no  more  repeat 
the  Lucrece  dedication  than  do  many 
sonnets  by  other  poets  of  the  time 
(Archer). 

III.  Wood's  note  is  based  on  mere 
hearsay,  and  if  true  denotes  no  more 
than  admiring  generosity;  and  the 
"love"  of  the  dedications  is  a  con- 
ventional term  for  poet  to  use  toward 
patron,  as  Lee  himself  shows  (Archer). 
Moreover,  S.  125  may  be  Sh.'s  pro- 
testation that  his  attentions  to  South- 
ampton were  formal  and  temporary 
(Tyler). 

IV.  Southampton's  age  was  too  ad- 
vanced for  the  probable  date  of  the 
Sonnets  (see  I  above);  and  it  is 
highly  improbable  that  Sh.  should  ever 
have  addressed  him  as  "sweet  boy" 
(Beeching).    The  language  of  S.  13 


468 


APPENDIX 


to  "You  had  a  father"  of  S.  13.  The 
argument  that  he  was  not  enough 
younger  than  Sh.  to  explain  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Sonnets  is  not  valid,  for 
his  youthful  "prime"  at  24  might 
well  make  a  man  of  33  feel  old  by 
comparison  (Lee).  Poets  are  known, 
too,  to  have  spoken  of  men  of  30  as 
"boys"  in  Elizabeth's  time. 

V.  Southampton's  personal  ap- 
pearance corresponds  with  that  of  the 
youth  of  the  Sonnets,  for  he  was  "ac- 
claimed the  handsomest  of  Elizabethan 
courtiers"  (Lee);  his  portraits  also 
show  him  to  have  been  handsome,  and 
to  have  had  light  auburn  hair,  sugges- 
tive of  the  comparison  with  "buds 
of  marjoram"  (Stopes,  Lee). 

VI.  Southampton's  character  cor- 
responds with  that  of  the  friend,  for 
he  was  one  of  the  dissipated  courtiers 
of  the  time,  and  was  beloved  of  poets 
(Lee). 


VII.  Southampton's  release  from 
prison  on  the  accession  of  James  I 
appears  to  be  alluded  to  in  S.  107 
(Lee). 

VIII.  The  fact  that  Southampton's 
initials  were  H.  W.  does  not  conflict 
with  his  claim;  for  the  W.  H.  of  the 
Dedication  may  not  refer  to  the  sub- 
ject of  the  Sonnets;  or,  if  it  does,  the 
initials  may  have  been  reversed  as 
a  blind.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the 
VV.  S.  of  Willobie  his  Avisa  is  Sh., 
Southampton's  claim  is  confirmed  by 
the  use,  in  that  poem,  of  the  initials 
H.  W.  (Fleay,  Acheson). 


has  no  bearing  on  the  question,  since 
the  past  tense  does  not  imply  that  the 
father  was  dead  (Tyler).  The  six- 
teen years'  difference  between  Pem- 
broke and  Sh.  are  far  more  appropriate 
to  the  conditions  (Boaden,  Archer). 


V.  It  is  more  than  doubtful  whether 
Southampton's  portraits  reveal  a  hand- 
some man;  and  if  the  Sonnets  date 
from  1598  and  later,  his  age  makes 
the  depicted  youthful  beauty  improb- 
able (Boaden). 


VI.  Southampton's  character  does 
not  correspond  with  that  of  the  friend ; 
he  bore  no  such  reputation  for  sensu- 
ality as  Pembroke,  could  not  well  be 
called  "lovely"  (but  was  rather  dis- 
tinguished as  tempestuous  and  quarrel- 
some), and  was  primarily  a  soldier  — 
a  circumstance  of  which  the  Sonnets 
give  no  hint  (Boaden,  Archer). 

VII.  The  date  of  S.  107  is  quite 
uncertain,  and  it  cannot  be  naturally 
explained  as  a  congratulatory  address 
to  Southampton  (Beeching). 

VIII.  Southampton's  claim  is  made 
impossible  by  the  fact  that  his  name 
was  Henry  (see  I  and  II  under  the  ar- 
guments for  Pembroke).  As  to  Willo- 
bie his  Avisa,  there  is  no  real  evidence 
for  connecting  it  with  Sh.;  nor,  if  the 
W.  S.  of  the  poem  were  Sh.,  would 
there  be  any  reason  for  taking  the 
Henry  Willobie  of  the  poem  to  be 
Henry  Wriothesley.  (See  below,  pp. 
478-82.) 


(To  these  are  to  be  added  the  arguments  on  both  sides  respecting  the 
question  whether  the  friend  was  a  nobleman,  as  noted  under  the  Pem- 
broke theory,  IV.) 


On  reviewing  these  arguments,  it  becomes  evident  that  the  cause  of  South- 
ampton depends  upon  the  known  patronage  which  that  earl  extended  to 
Sh.,  associated  with  a  belief  in  the  comparatively  early  date  o£  the  Sonnets. 
The  evidence  respecting  Southampton's  personal  beauty  is  perhaps  balanced 
by  the  comparative  inappropriateness  of  his  age  and  reputation.  Throughout, 
as  with  the  Pembroke  theory,  plausible  objections  are  raised  at  every  step,  and 
the  whole  body  of  evidence  is  seen  to  be  circumstantial  and  inferential. 


THE  FRIEND  469 

III.  Other  Theories 

The  name  of  William  Harte  was  suggested  by  Farmer  in  Malone's  edition 
of  1780.  Harte  was  Sh.'s  nephew,  the  son  of  his  sister  Joan.  Since  he  was  not 
baptized  until  August  28,  1600,  after  most  of  the  sonnets  had  —  in  all  proba- 
bility —  been  written,  this  view  has  gained  no  supporters. 

William  Hughes,  a  name  rather  than  an  individual,  was  proposed  by  Tyr- 
whitt,  also  in  Malone's  edition  of  1780,  on  the  basis  of  the  italicised  "Hews" 
of  Sonnet  20.  See  the  notes  on  that  sonnet  for  the  further  development  of  this 
theory.  It  finds  no  important  supporters  in  recent  criticism.  Mackail  has  ob- 
served humorously  that,  if  we  once  undertake  to  use  typographical  details 
as  a  means  of  identification,  William  Rose  should  be  our  choice  rather  than 
Hews  or  Hughes,  since  the  word  "rose"  is  capitalized  no  less  than  ten  times 
in  the  text  of  the  Sonnets,  and  appears  in  the  first  sonnet  in  startling  italics. 

William  Hammond  was  proposed  by  W.  C.  Hazlitt  (1874),  but  this  notion 
has  attracted  little  evidence  and  no  supporters. 

Mrs.  Stopes  has  suggested  William  Herbert  (1890),  —  not  the  Earl  of  Pem- 
broke, but  a  private  person;  and  again,  William  Hunnis,  a  minor  poet;  but  has 
since  withdrawn  these  names,  and  supports  Southampton  as  the  friend,  with 
Sir  William  Hervey  (or  Harvey)  as  "begetter"  in  another  sense. 

William  Hall  (not  the  stationer  of  Lee's  "begetter"  theory,  but  a  member  of 
a  Worcestershire  family)  was  proposed  by  Underhill  (see  the  Bibliography 
under  V,  1890). 

Last  of  the  theories  based  on  the  initials  of  the  Dedication,  we  may  note 
that  of  F.  A.  White  (see  Bibliography,  V,  1900),  who  finds  the  friend  to  be 
William  Hathaway,  junior,  son  of  Sh.'s  brother-in-law  and  a  former  sweet- 
heart (hypothetically)  named  Susan  Hamnet! 

Of  conjectures  not  based  on  the  Dedication,  the  earliest  is  that  of  Chalmers 
(1797),  that  the  Sonnets  were  addressed  to  Queen  Elizabeth.  Travers  (1880) 
proposed  the  view  that  they  were  addressed  to  an  illegitimate  son  of  the  poet's. 
(See  note  on  S.  36.)  The  only  theory  of  this  sort  (outside  that  of  the  South- 
amptonists)  offered  by  a  critic  deserving  of  attention  is  that  of  Isaac,  who  in 
1884  proposed  the  Earl  of  Essex.  His  main  contentions  are  (1)  that  the  sonnets 
bear  evidence  of  a  very  early  date  of  composition,  the  late  8o's  or  early  90 's; 
(2)  that  Essex,  in  both  character,  beauty,  and  situation,  resembles  the  friend 
of  the  Sonnets.  Stress  is  laid  upon  the  young  earl's  beauty,  and  upon  the  prob- 
ability that  such  an  experience  as  the  dark-lady  sonnets  represent  is  one  likely 
to  be  gone  through  by  a  young  man,  inexperienced  and  imaginative,  rather 
than  by  one  at  the  height  of  fame  and  knowledge  of  the  world.  The  theory 
has  found  few  adherents,  most  critics  doubtless  feeling  that  the  date  of  the 
Sonnets  on  whfch  it  rests  is  improbable,  and  that,  since  Essex  was  born  in 
1566,  the  want  of  disparity  in  age  between  him  and  Sh.  makes  his  identifica- 
tion with  the  "lovely  youth"  out  of  the  question. 

All  these  theories  remaining  mere  hypotheses,  there  remains  the  view  that  to 
refuse  to  accept  what  is  unproved  is  more  satisfying,  after  all,  than  to  try  to 


470 


APPENDIX 


support  what  cannot  be  demonstrated.  Could  we  produce  an  Elizabethan  whose 
initials  were  W.  H.,  whose  birth  was  gentle,  whose  position  was  fairly  eminent, 
who  was  born  about  1576  (and  hence  could  have  been  urged  to  marry  as  early 
as  1594  or  as  late  as  1598),  who  was  lovely  to  look  upon,  sensual,  capricious, 
charming,  who  was  known  to  have  loved  a  woman  —  a  brunette,  clever,  and 
indiscreet,  who  both  loved  and  patronized  Sh.;  —  if  we  could  produce  such  a 
person,  we  might  reconcile  some,  even,  of  the  Pembrokists  and  Southamptonists, 
and  win  not  a  few  skeptics  to  the  view  that  the  identity  of  the  friend  is  demon- 
strable. For,  as  Professor  Gray  observes,  "There  is  something  sad  about  work- 
ing over  a  vexed  problem  and  getting  in  the  end  only  negative  results.  One  so 
wishes  to  say  'Southampton'  or  'Pembroke,'  or  even,  in  desperation,  'William 
Hughes'!"  But  the  paragon  has  not  been  produced;  the  evidence  for  all  the 
"friends"  seems,  in  the  view  of  the  most  cautious  critics,  to  be  conjectural 
merely;  as  Gray  puts  it,  again,  "Southampton  and  Pembroke  can  play  each 
other  to  a  tie,  but  neither  can  show  any  compelling  reason  for  the  choice  of 
him."  One  may  admire,  then,  the  more  daring  critic  who  will  accept  sugges- 
tive evidence  rather  than  have  no  theory  at  all;  but  one  must  also  try  to  retain 
a  sense  of  the  difference  between  conjecture  and  proof. 


The  following  table,  while  making  no  pretension  to  completeness,  will  give 
the  reader  some  idea  of  the  position  of  the  critics  on  the  question  of  the  iden- 
tity of  the  friend  of  the  Sonnets. 


Pembroke  1 

nheory 

Southampton 

Theory 

Other  Theories 
Tyrwhitt  and   Ma- 
lone    (William 
Hughes)                  1780 

Drake 

1817 

Bright 

1819 

Mrs.  Jameson 

1829 

Boaden 

1832 

Hunter 

1845 

Cart  wright 
Jordan 

1859 
1861 

Alger 

1862 

Gervinus 
Corney 

1862 
1862 

Kreyssig 

1863 

W.  C.  Hazlitt  (Wil- 
liam Hammond)    1865 

Massey 

1866 

Sievers 

1866 

Chasles 

1867 

Krauss 

1872 

Minto 

1874 

W.  Rossetti 

1878 

Furnivall  (agnostic)  1877 

Main 

1880 

Stengel 

1881 

Dowden  (agnostic)    1881 

Mackay 
Sharp 

1884 
1885 

Isaac  (Essex)             1884 

Tyler 

1886 

Fleay 

1886 

Verity 

1890 

Shindler 

1892 

THE 

FRIEND 

Boas 

1896 

1897 
1898 

von  Mauntz 
Sarrazin 

1894 
1895 

Archer 
Brandes 

Sidney  Lee 
Stopes 

Herford 

Henry 

Acheson 

1898 
1898 

1900 
1900 
1903 

Butler  (William 
Hughes) 

471 


Rolfe 
Harris 


1905        Genee 


1909 


Brandl 


1905 


1913 


1899 


Beeching  (agnostic)  1904 

Luce  (agnostic)  1906 
Walsh  (agnostic)  1908 
Jusserand  (agnostic)  1909 
Mackail  (agnostic)  191 1 
Porter  (agnostic)       19 12 


THE   RIVAL   POET* 

The  sonnets  which  give  rise  to  the  problem  of  the  "rival  poet"  are  those 
numbered  78  to  86  (excluding  81).  Some  critics  have  found  allusions  in  other 
sonnets,  but  the  basis  of  identification  rests  in  these.  The  elements  of  it  are 
as  follows.  In  S.  78  is  a  reference  to  "every  alien  pen."  If  the  lines  that  fol- 
low are  to  be  referred  primarily  to  the  one  poet  who  in  other  sonnets  is  singled 
out  as  rival,  he  is  more  "learned  "than  Sh.  (78,  7),  and  has  "grace"  (78,8).  His 
writing  is  "polished"  (85,  8),  and  is  spoken  of  as  "precious  phrase  by  all  the 
Muses  filed"  (85,  4).  From  the  expression  "fresher  stamp  of  the  time-better- 
ing days"  (82,  8),  it  has  been  inferred  that  he  was  a  younger  man  than  Sh. 
In  spite  of  this,  his  is  a  "worthier  pen"  (79,  6),  and  a  "better  spirit"  (80,  2). 
The  "proud  full  sail  of  his  great  verse"  (86,  1)  is  discouraging  to  others.  Sh. 
speaks  of  himself  as  "tongue-tied"  (80,  4)  in  his  presence,  and  of  his  own  bark 
as  "a  worthless  boat"  (80,  11)  in  comparison  with  the  rival's,  "of  tall  building 
and  of  goodly  pride."  (For  the  more  or  less  conventional  character  of  such 
passages,  see  the  evidence  given  by  Wolff,  page  460  above.)  The  unknown 
is  also  distinguished  by  the  fact  that  he  writes  "hymns"  (85,  7),  and  that  he 
"spends  all  his  might"  (80,  3)  in  praise  of  the  patron.  In  other  passages  he  is 
treated  with  rather  less  respect.  His  rhetoric  is  called  "strained"  (82,  10)  and 
"gross  painting"  (82,  13),  in  comparison  with  simple  truth,  —  though  this  is 
rather  by  way  of  praise  of  the  patron  than  of  derogation  from  the  rival's  art. 
Most  mysteriously,  he  is  said  to  be  "taught  to  write"  by  "spirits"  (86,  5), 
to  be  aided  by  "compeers  by  night"  (86,  7),  and  to  be  "gulled"  nightly  by  an 
"affable  familiar  ghost"  (86,  9). 

All  this  assumes  that  but  one  poet  is  referred  to  in  these  sonnets,  after  the 
general  introductory  allusion  to  "every  alien  pen."  Some  critics,  however, 
find  evidence  of  two  (see  notes  on  83,  14) ;  and  some  —  notably  Massey,  Fleay, 
and  Wyndham  —  of  a  number.  We  may  also  note  one  or  two  other  minor 
theories.  Stronach  (N.  &  Q.,  9th  s.,  12:  141,  273),  viewing  the  sonnet  collection 
as  a  miscellany  like  the  Passionate  Pilgrim,  finds  that  among  the  poems  included 
are  some  by  Barnabe  Barnes,  in  which  Sh.  is  the  subject  and  not  the  author 
of  the  rival-poet  allusions.  In  like  manner  Mackay  (Nineteenth  Century,  1884) 
finds  that  the  sonnets  in  question  are  the  work  of  Marlowe.  Here  may  also  be  ^ 
mentioned  the  theories  according  to  which  Dante  and  Tasso,  respectively,  are 
proposed  as  rival  poet,  the  first  by  an  anonymous  contributor  in  Blackwood's 
Magazine  for  1884-86,  the  second  by  Leigh,  in  the  Westminster  Review  for 
1897.    In  both  cases  the  evidence  is  far-fetched  and  entirely  negligible. 

For  the  great  body  of  critics  the  question  centers  about  the  identification  of  a 
single  poet,  a  contemporary  of  Sh.,  and  one  who  might  in  some  sense  be  thought 
*  [This  section  is  based  on  an  unpublished  paper  by  Mr.  William  T.  Ham,  A.M.  —  Ed.] 


THE   RIVAL  POET  473 

to  be  a  rival  for  the  patronage  naturally  sought  by  a  man  of  letters  of  the  time. 
Spenser,  naturally  enough,  was  the  first  to  be  suggested,  by  M alone;  as  * 
Walsh  observes,  he  was  "the  only  'better  spirit'  at  the  time  whose  com- 
petition Sh.  need  have  feared."  No  critic,  however,  has  found  any  historical 
evidence  to  support  this  view,  and  the  claim  has  met  with  general  skepticism. 
Boaden  points  out  that  for  the  Pembrokists  Spenser  is  impossible,  since  he 
died  too  young  (1599)  to  dedicate  to  that  nobleman.  Not  much  is  gained  for 
the  Spenser  theory  by  the  support  of  Gertrude  Garrigues,  who  (in  an  article 
in  the  Journal  of  Speculative  Philosophy,  1887),  viewing  the  Sonnets  as  mystical 
in  character,  argues  that  Sh.  realized  that  he  would  never  be  able  to  attain 
the  philosophic  heights  of  Spenser,  or  that  of  J.  E.  G.  de  Montmorency,  who 
(in  the  Contemporary  Review,  1912)  also  views  Sh.  as  a  follower  of  Spenser  in 
the  field  of  allegory. 

The  claims  of  Marlowe  also  received  early  attention,  and  were  supported  X 
most  elaborately  by  Massey.  Massey  believed,  to  be  sure,  that  Nash  was  the 
"learned"  poet  of  S.  78,  but  that  Marlowe  was  he  with  "a  double  majesty" 
of  "grace."  (See  note  on  78,  8.)  In  the  use  of  the  word  "Arts"  (78,  12)  he  finds 
an  allusion  to  Marlowe's  degree  of  M.A.,  and  the  supernatural  details  of  S.  86 
are  explained  by  his  interest  in  necromancy  and  by  Faustus.  As  Marlowe  died 
in  1593,  this  theory  is  of  course  dependent  upon  the  belief  in  a  very  early  date  I 
for  the  Sonnets;  it  is  supported  by  Godwin,  in  his  New  Study  of  the  Sonnets  of 
Sh.,  and  by  "C.  C.  B.,"  a  contributor  to  Notes  &  Queries  (nth  s.,  5:  190),  on 
the  basis  of  theories  of  such  a  date.  No  Pembrokist,  of  course,  could  consider 
this  view;  and  Minto  points  out  that  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  Mar- 
lowe knew  Southampton  either. 

Boaden  proposed  the  name  of  Daniel,  on  the  ground  that  he  was  probably 
regarded  by  Sh.  as  his  master  in  lyrical  poetry  (see  above,  under  "Sources  and 
Analogues").  He  also  calls  attention  to  Daniel's  reputation  for  learning,  and 
finds  the  familiar  spirit  in  Dr.  Dee,  a  necromancer  having  some  connection  with 
the  Pembrokes.  Dowden  gives  some  countenance  to  this  view  (though  with- 
out accepting  it):  "Daniel's  reputation  stood  high;  ...  he  was  brought  up  at 
Wilton,  the  seat  of  the  Pembrokes,  and  in  1601  he  inscribed  his  Defence  of 
Ryme  to  William  Herbert."  Mrs.  Stopes  does  the  same,  in  her  article  in  Poet 
Lore,  1890,  recalling  that  Daniel's  Masque  of  the  Twelve  Goddesses  "introduced 
Night  and  Sleep,"  and  that  it  has  been  said  that  Daniel  "supplanted  Sh.  in 
the  coveted  post  of  the  Master  of  the  Revels."  The  most  ardent  defender  of 
Daniel's  claim  is  Creighton,  in  his  articles  in  Blackwood's  for  1901 ;  he  finds  an 
anagram  of  Daniel  (all  but  the  D!)  in  the  italicized  "Alien"  pen,  and  develops 
an  elaborate  theory  of  Daniel  and  Sh.  as  rivals  for  the  post  of  Poet  Laureate. 
The  proof  is  far  too  eccentric  to  deserve  serious  consideration.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  appear  to  be  no  important  objections  to  this  theory,  based  on  the 
date  or  character  of  the  claimant. 

The  view  that  Drayton  may  have  been  the  rival  poet  was  proposed  by 
R.  H.  Legis,  in  a  communication  to  Notes  &  Queries  in  1884.  Fear  of  the  great- 
ness of  Polyolbion,  and  the  "dedicated  words"  found  at  the  beginnings  of 


474  APPENDIX 

certain  books  of  that  poem,  are  among  the  details  of  this  theory.  "In  the  com- 
position of  this,  the  most  extensive  poem  since  Spenser,  Drayton  was  aided  on 
all  sides  by  his  compeers,"  —  who  are  thus  reduced  from  supernatural  to  human 
beings.  Drayton's  epithet  of  " golden-mouthed "  is  alluded  to  in  the  "golden 
quill "  of  85,  3.  Legis's  argument  has  found  few  adherents.  Wyndham,  however, 
believing  in  several  rival  poets,  concludes:  "If  compelled  to  select  one,  ...  I 
should  select  Drayton."  {Poems  of  Sh.,  p.  258.)  Drayton  was  "one  of  the 
'learned'";  he  praised  Sh.'s  Lucrece  in  1594,  but  withdrew  the  passage  in  his 
edition  of  1596;  he  was  part  author  of  the  pamphlet  on  Sir  John  Oldcastle, 
written  in  1600  as  a  retort  on  Sh.'s  Henry  IV.  (For  his  alleged  borrowings  from 
Sh.,  see  the  views  of  Wyndham  and  others  in  the  section  on  Sources  and 
Analogues,  above.)   These  are  possible  grounds  for  his  claim. 

In  recent  years  attention  has  been  attracted  to  the  view  that  Barnabe  Barnes 
was  the  rival  poet,  through  the  persistent  but  practically  unseconded  nomina- 
tion of  Sir  Sidney  Lee.  Barnes  was  "a  poetic  panegyrist  of  Southampton  and 
a  prolific  sonneteer,  who  was  deemed  by  contemporary  critics  certain  to  prove 
a  great  poet.  His  first  collection  of  sonnets,  Parthenophil  Sf  Parthenophe,  .  .  . 
was  printed  in  1593.  ...  In  a  sonnet  that  Barnes  addressed  in  this  earliest 
volume  to  the  'virtuous'  Earl  of  Southampton,  he  declared  that  his  patron's 
eyes  were  the  'heavenly  lamps  that  give  the  Muses  light,'  and  that  his  sole 
ambition  was  'by  flight  to  rise'  to  a  height  worthy  of  his  patron's  'virtues.'" 
Sh.  may  be  thought  to  allude  to  this  in  S.  78,  5-8.  (Life,  pp.  132-33.)  See  also 
various  passages  in  the  commentary  (traceable  through  the  index),  where  Lee 
also  finds  evidence  of  Sh.'s  sensitive  interest  in  Barnes's  verse.  The  supposed 
references  to  the  supernatural  (S.  86)  he  explains  by  saying  that  "Sh.  detected 
a  touch  of  magic  in  the  man's  writing";  —  on  which  it  may  be  observed  that  if 
he  did,  then  "the  less  Shakespeare  he."  Lee  also  reiterates  the  argument  that 
Barnes  was  fond  of  calling  his  poems  "hymns,"  though  he  promptly  destroys 
the  force  of  it  by  showing  the  prevalence  of  the  term,  as  is  pointed  out  in  the 
notes  to  S.  85.  Most  critics  find  little  to  be  said  for  this  Barnes  theory.  In  the 
first  place,  as  Beeching  observes  (Intro.,  p.  xlvi),  the  dates  are  not  favorable; 
Barnes's  collection  was  entered  on  the  Stationers'  Register  only  a  month  after 
the  publication  of  V.  &  A.  Moreover,  even  those  who  consider  Barnes's  praise 
of  Southampton  as  pertinent  to  the  Sonnets  question  are  likely  to  find  it  in- 
credible that  Sh.  should  have  considered  him  worthy  of  serious  notice  as  a  poet. 

Before  discussing  the  most  important  of  the  identifications,  we  may  note 
rapidly  certain  lesser  theories.  Fleay  gives  some  attention  to  Thomas  Nash, 
believing  (Biog.  Chronicle,  2:  218)  that  S.  86  "refers  ironically  to  a  prosaic 
sonnet  by  Nash  in  Pierce  Pennilesse,  accompanying  a  complaint  that  Amyntas* 
(Southampton's)  name  was  omitted  in  the  sonnet  catalogue  of  English  heroes 
appended  to  Spenser's  F.Q. ";  the  proof  being  that  in  this  passage  Nash 
uses  the  words  "full  sail."  But  elsewhere  Fleay  finds  the  "better  spirit" 
to  be  Gervase  Markham,  whose  non-extant  Thy r sis  &  Daphne  he  supposes 
to  have  been  written  in  rivalry  with  V.  &  A.  "He  was  learned,  had  'proud 
sail'  with  a  vengeance,  and  his  poem  [Sir  Richard  Grenville,  1595]  was  die- 


THE  RIVAL  POET  475 

tated  by  the  spirit  of  Grenville."  VV.  R.  Alger,  in  his  essays  on  "Sh.'s  Sonnets 
and  Friendship"  (1862),  argues  for  the  recognition  of  Ben  Jonson  as  the 
rival.  Henry  Brown,  in  his  book  on  the  Sonnets  (1870),  favors  both  Francis 
Davison  and  John  Davies,  chiefly  on  the  ground  of  dedications  which  they 
penned;  see  notes  on  Sonnets,  78,  82,  and  86.  W.  C.  Hazlitt  identifies  Griffin, 
author  of  Fidessa,  in  S.  80  (see  the  notes).  Butler,  with  his  view  of  an  ex- 
traordinarily early  date,  is  inclined  toward  Watson  and  his  sonnets  of  1582. 
Wyndham  finds  a  possible  case  for  Marston,  who  is  supposed  to  have  been  an 
opponent  of  Sh.  in  the  poetomachia,  and  who  boasts  of  a  "genius  that  attends 
my  soul."  Von  Mauntz,  in  his  Heraldik  in  Diensten  der  Sh.-Forschung  (1903), 
proposes  Gabriel  Harvey,  on  the  ground  of  supposed  allusions  to  Sh.,  Nash, 
and  the  Dark  Lady,  in  Pierces  Supererogation;  the  familiar  spirit  of  the  Son- 
nets he  takes  to  be  an  allusion  to  "  some  familiar  spright  "  in  the  postscript  to 
Harvey's  poem  "Gorgon,  or  the  Wonderfull  Yeare."  And  Mackail  (Essays 
and  Studies  by  Members  of  the  English  Association,  vol.  3,  19 12,  pp.  66-69)  con- 
jectures that  the  rival  poet  is  none  other  than  the  author  of  "  A  Lover's  Com- 
plaint," which  may  have  been  found  in  the  same  MS.  book  with  the  Sonnets 
because  written  for  the  same  patron. 

Lastly,  George  Chapman  has  been  the  most  widely  accepted  claimant  for 
identification  as  rival  poet,  since  being  proposed  by  Professor  Minto  in  1874. 
Minto's  principal  evidence  is  as  follows  (Char,  of  Eng.  Poets,  pp.  222-23): 
"Chapman  was  a  man  of  overpowering  enthusiasm,  ever  eager  in  magnifying 
poetry,  and  advancing  fervent  claims  to  supernatural  inspiration.  In  1594  he 
published  a  poem  called  'The  Shadow  of  Night,'  which  goes  far  to  establish 
his  identity  as  Sh.'s  rival.  In  the  Dedication,  after  animadverting  severely 
on  vulgar  searchers  after  knowledge,  he  exclaims:  'Now  what  a  supererogation 
in  wit  is  this,  to  think  Skill  so  mightily  pierced  with  their  loves  that  she  should 
prostitutely  show  them  her  secrets,  when  she  will  scarcely  be  looked  upon  by 
others  but  with  invocation,  fasting,  watching;  yea,  not  without  having  drops 
of  their  souls  like  a  heavenly  familiar.'  Here  we  have  something  like  a  profes- 
sion of  the  familiar  ghost  that  Sh.  saucily  laughs  at.  But  Sh.'s  rival  gets  his 
intelligence  by  night:  special  stress  is  laid  in  the  sonnet  upon  the  aid  of  his 
compeers  by  night  and  his  nightly  familiar.  Well,  Chapman's  poem  is  called 
'The  Shadow  of  Night,'  and  its  purpose  is  to  extol  the  wonderful  powers 
of  Night  in  imparting  knowledge  to  her  votaries.  He  addresses  her  with  fer- 
vent devotion: 

Rich-taper'd  sanctuary  of  the  blest, 

Palace  of  truth,  made  all  of  tears  and  rest, 

To  thy  black  shades  and  desolation 

I  consecrate  my  life. 


And  he  cries: 


All  you  possess'd  with  indepressed  spirits, 
Endued  with  nimble  and  aspiring  wits, 
Come  consecrate  with  me  to  sacred  Night 
Your  whole  endeavours,  and  detest  the  light.  .  . 


476  APPENDIX 

No  pen  can  anything  eternal  write 

That  is  not  steep'd  in  humour  of  the  Night. 

It  is  not  simply  that  night  is  the  best  season  for  study;  the  enthusiastic  poet 
finds  more  active  assistance  than  silence  and  freedom  from  interruption.  When 
the  avenues  of  sense  are  closed  by  sleep,  his  soul  rises  to  the  court  of  Skill  (the 
mother  of  knowledge,  who  must  be  propitiated  by  drops  of  the  soul  like  an 
heavenly  familiar),  and  if  he  could  only  remember  what  he  learns  there  no 
secret  would  be  hid  from  him. 

Let  soft  sleep, 

Binding  my  senses,  loosen  my  working  soul, 

That  in  her  highest  pitch  she  may  control 

The  court  of  Skill,  compact  of  mystery, 

Wanting  but  franchisement  and  memory 

To  reach  all  secrets. 

As  regards  the  other  feature  in  the  rival  poet,  'the  proud  full  sail  of  his  great 
verse,'  that  applies  with  almost  too  literal  exactness  to  the  alexandrines  of 
Chapman's  Homer,  part  of  which  appeared  in  1596;  and  as  for  its  being  bound 
for  the  prize  of  Sh.'s  patron,  both  Pembroke  and  Southampton  were  included 
in  the  list  of  those  honoured  with  dedicatory  sonnets  in  a  subsequent  edition. 
Chapman's  chief  patron  was  Sir  Francis  Walsingham,  whose  daughter  Sir 
Philip  Sidney  had  married,  and  nothing  could  have  been  more  natural  than 
that  the  old  man  should  introduce  his  favourite  to  the  Countess  of  Pembroke 
or  her  son." 

Later  critics  have,  in  a  number  of  instances-,  not  only  accepted  Minto's  evi- 
dence but  reenforced  it.  Dowden,  though  remaining  agnostic,  thinks  this  the 
most  fortunate  of  the  guesses:  "No  Elizabethan  poet  wrote  ampler  verse,  none 
scorned  'ignorance  more,'  or  more  haughtily  asserted  his  learning,  than  Chap- 
man. In  'The  Tears  of  Peace'  (1609),  Homer  as  a  spirit  visits  and  inspires 
him:  the  claim  to  such  inspiration  may  have  been  often  made  by  the  trans- 
lator of  Homer  in  earlier  years."  (Intro.,  p.  20.)  Tyler  considers  the  identifi- 
cation "so  complete  as  to  leave  no  reasonable  doubt  on  the  matter"  (p.  33). 
Beeching,  though  not  accepting  the  theory,  contributes  —  for  those  who  do 
—  the  fact  that  in  1598  Chapman  "wrote  a  poem  to  that  celebrated  Doctor 
Harriot  of  whom  Marlowe  had  said  in  his  'atheistical'  way  that  he  could  juggle 
better  than  Moses."  (Intro.,  p.  xlv.)  But  by  far  the  most  elaborate  contribu- 
tion to  the  Chapman  doctrine  has  been-made  by  Acheson,  in  his  Sh.  fif  the 
Rival  Poet  (1903).  It  is  impossible  to  outline  his  argument  here,  as  it  involves 
an  intricate  theory  of  a  prolonged  quarrel  between  Chapman  and  Sh.,  of  which 
much  evidence  is  found  in  the  latter's  plays.  For  a  number  of  the  alleged 
parallels  between  Chapman's  poetry  and  the  Sonnets,  see  the  commentary, 
with  the  aid  of  the  index.  The  more  respectful  allusions  to  Chapman,  those 
in  the  rival-poet  group,  Acheson  puts  after  the  publication  of  the  first  part 
of  the  Homer,  in  1598.  Others  who  support  Minto's  theory,  with  varying 
degrees  of  assurance,  are  Furnivall,  Rolfe,  Boas,  and  Brandl. 


THE  RIVAL   POET  477 

The  objections  are  largely  negative.  Lee  observes:  "Chapman  had  pro- 
duced no  conspicuously  'great  verse'  till  he  began  his  translation  of  Homer  in 
1598;  and  although  he  appended  in  1610  to  a  complete  edition  of  his  translation 
a  sonnet  to  Southampton,  it  was  couched  in  the  coldest  terms  of  formality, 
and  it  was  one  of  a  series  of  sixteen  sonnets  each  addressed  to  a  distinguished 
nobleman  with  whom  the  writer  implies  that  he  had  no  previous  relations.  .  .  . 
[As  to  the  passages  in  'The  Shadow  of  Night,']  there  is  really  no  connection 
between  Sh.'s  theory  of  the  supernatural  and  nocturnal  sources  of  his  rival's 
influence  with  Chapman's  trite  allusion  to  the  current  faith  in  the  power  of 
'  nightly  familiars '  over  men's  minds  and  lives,  or  in  Chapman's  invitation  to 
his  literary  comrades  to  honour  Night  with  him.  ...  It  could  be  as  easily 
argued  on  like  grounds  that  Sh.  was  drawing  on  other  authors.  Nash  in  his 
prose  tract,  called  independently  The  Terrors  of  the  Night,  which  was  also  printed 
in  1594,  described  the  nocturnal  habits  of  'familiars'  more  explicitly  than 
Chapman."  (Life,  pp.  134-35.)  Wyndham  doubts  if  Chapman  can  be  said 
to  have  "eternized"  anybody  (p.  254);  and  Beeching  queries,  "Was  Chap- 
man the  sort  of  man  to  write  affectionate  sonnets  to  a  youth?"  Walsh,  com- 
menting on  Acheson's  evidence,  remarks:  "His  argument  fails  in  one  item 
by  himself  considered  material:  he  cannot  show  by  external  testimony  that 
Chapman  courted  the  favour  of  either  of  Sh.'s  known  patrons"  *  (p.  271). 
He  proceeds,  however,  to  say  that  the  rival  poet  may  have  been  one  who  cele- 
brated any  distinguished  patron  of  the  time,  —  the  Countess  of  Pembroke, 
for  example. 

On  the  whole,  this  Chapman  theory,  while  it  is  far  from  having  been  shown 
to  be  impossible,  has  been  accepted  with  decidedly  uncritical  assurance.  The 
case  is  the  same  as  with  the  theories  respecting  the  friend:  since  no  other 
claimant  is  provided  with  better  evidence,  the  disposition  is  to  accept  what 
is  offered  rather  than  be  without  an  identification.  In  the  case  of  this  problem 
there  is  reason  for  rather  more  hopefulness  than  in  the  other,  since  the  rival 
poet  would  seem  less  likely  than  the  friend  to  have  been  a  man  unknown  to 
fame.  On  the  other  hand  it  may  be  said  that  if,  as  some  understand  it,  Sh.'s 
praise  of  the  rival  poet  is  ironical,  he  may  well  have  been  an  ambitious  no- 
body destined  for  oblivion.  For  the  present,  at  any  rate,  Dowden's  conclusion 
must  stand:  "  In  the  end  we  are  forced  to  confess  that  the  poet  remains  as  dim 
a  figure  as  the  patron." 

*  For  want  of  this,  Acheson  devises  a  theory  that  Chapman  sought  the  patronage  of  South- 
ampton for  his  early  poems,  in  1594  and  1505.  and  was  rejected.  (His  "dedicated  words" 
were  "undoubtedly  still  in  manuscript "  when  Sh.  wrote  S.  82 ;  so  we  are  told  on  p.  1J7.)  For  this 
he  produces  not  a  particle  of  real  proof,  but  later  repeatedly  refers  to  it  as  known  fact. 


"WILLOBIE  HIS  AVISA" 

The  book  bearing  the  above  title,  which  appeared  in  1594  and  in  various 
subsequent  editions,  has  been  associated  with  the  discussion  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets 
to  an  extent  which  makes  some  account  of  it  necessary.  The  fuller  title  is 
"Willobie  his  Avisa:  or  the  true  Picture  of  a  modest  Maid,  and  of  a  chast 
and  constant  wife";  supplemented,  in  later  editions,  by  "an  Apologie,  shew- 
ing the  true  meaning  of  Willoby  his  Avisa:  with  the  victory  of  English  Chas- 
titie."  The  work  is  a  moral  poem,  of  bourgeois  tone,  praising  chastity  as  per- 
sonified in  the  character  of  Avisa,  a  young  woman  who,  because  of  extraordinary 
charms,  is  subjected  to  great  temptation  both  before  and  after  her  marriage. 
Of  her  wooers  some  are  presented  as  villains  of  various  nationalities;  but  one, 
the  supposed  author  of  the  poem,  Henry  Willobie,  is  afflicted  with  a  persistent 
and  sincere,  though  guilty  passion,  and  Avisa  treats  him  with  some  kindness, 
though  with  inexorable  virtue.  The  poem  ends  with  her  final  dismissal  of  him. 
In  Canto  44  occurs  a  prose  interlude,  which  is  chiefly  responsible  for  the  theory 
that  the  story  partly  concerns  Sh.  It  reads  as  follows: 

H.  W.  being  sodenly  affected  with  the  contagion  of  a  fantasticall  fit,  at 
the  first  sight  of  A,  pyneth  a  while  in  secret  griefe,  at  length  not  able  any  longer 
to  indure  the  burning  heate  of  so  fervent  a  humour,  bewrayeth  the  secresy 
of  his  disease  unto  his  familiar  frend  W.  S.  who  not  long  before  had  tryed  the 
curtesy  of  the  like  passion,  and  was  now  newly  recovered  of  the  like  infection; 
yet  finding  his  frend  let  bloud  in  the  same  vaine,  he  took  pleasure  for  a  tyme 
to  see  him  bleed,  &  in  steed  of  stopping  the  issue,  he  inlargeth  the  wound, 
with  the  sharpe  rasor  of  a  willing  conceit,  perswading  him  that  he  thought  it  a 
matter  very  easy  to  be  compassed,  &  no  doubt  with  payne,  diligence  &  some 
cost  in  tyme  to  be  obtayned.  Thus  this  niiserable  comforter  comforting  his 
frend  with  an  impossibilitie,  eyther  for  that  he  now  would  secretly  laugh  at  his 
frends  folly,  that  had  given  occasion  not  long  before  unto  others  to  laugh  at 
his  owne,  or  because  he  would  see  whether  an  other  could  play  his  part  better 
than  himselfe,  &  in  vewing  a  far  off  the  course  of  this  loving  Comedy,  he  deter- 
mined to  see  whether  it  would  sort  to  a  happier  end  for  this  new  actor,  then  it 
did  for  the  old  player.  But  at  length  this  Comedy  was  like  to  have  growen  to 
a  Tragedy,  by  the  weake  and  feeble  estate  that  H.  W.  was  brought  unto,  by  a 
desperate  vewe  of  an  impossibility  of  obtaining  his  purpose,  til  Time  &  Neces- 
sity, being  his  best  Phisitions  brought  him  a  plaster,  if  not  to  heale;  yet  in  part 
to  ease  his  maladye.  In  all  which  discourse  is  lively  represented  the  unrewly 
rage  of  unbrydeled  fancy,  having  the  raines  to  rove  at  liberty,  with  the  dyvers 
&  sundry  changes  of  affections  &  temptations,  which  Will,  set  loose  from  Reason, 
can  devise,  &c. 

There  follows  Willobie's  complaint,  in  verse,  succeeded  (in  cantos  45  and 
47)  by  remarks  on  the  part  of  W.  S.,  inquiring  regarding  his  friend's  sadness, 
and  giving  advice  for  the  wooing  of  cold  ladies;  thereupon  Willobie  renews  his 
vain  attacks,  and  we  hear  no  more  of  the  cynical  friend.  "W.  S.,"  then,  ap- 
pears as  one  of  the  group  of  characters  who  represent  the  view  that  woman's 
virtue  is  never  wholly  impregnable,  —  the  doctrine  which  it  is  the  professed 
purpose  of  the  poem  to  oppose. 


"WILLOBIE  HIS  AVISA"  479 

To  this  must  be  added  —  since  to  some  the  circumstance  has  seemed  signi- 
ficant —  the  fact  that  in  some  prefatory  verses  Sh.  is  incidentally  mentioned  as 
the  author  of  Lucrece. 

Ingleby,  having  occasion  to  reprint  the  passage  last  mentioned  in  the 
Sh.  Allusion  Books  and  Century  of  Praise,  also  reprinted  the  passage  from 
Canto  44,  and  expressed  the  opinion  that  "  W.  S."  stood  for  Sh.,  on  the  grounds 
that  he  appears  "as  a  standard  authority  on  love"  and  that  he  is  called  an 
"old  player."  (C.  of  P.,  ed.  1879,  p.  II.)  This  conjecture  found  acceptance, 
at  least  as  an  interesting  hypothesis,  with  a  number  of  persons,  including  so 
distinguished  a  critic  as  Swinburne,  who,  in  his  Study  of  Sh.,  referred  to 
Willobie  his  Avisa  as  "the  one  contemporary  book  which  has  ever  been  sup- 
posed to  throw  any  direct  or  indirect  light  on  the  mystic  matter"  of  the  Son- 
nets (p.  62).  Partly  as  a  result  of  his  encouragement,  Grosart  brought  out 
a  reprint  of  the  poem  in  1880.*  Dowden  examined  the  matter  in  his  edition 
of  the  Sonnets  (1881),  and  concluded:  "Assuming  that  W.  S.  is  William  Sh.,  we 
learn  that  he  had  loved  and  recovered  from  the  infection  of  his  passion  before 
the  end  of  1594.  The  chaste  Avisa  is  as  unlike  as  possible  the  dark  woman  of 
the  Sonnets;  nor  does  anything  appear  which  can  connect  Henry  Willobie 
with  Sh.'s  young  friend  of  the  Sonnets,  except  the  fact  that  the  initials  of  the 
only  begetter's  name  were  W.  H.,  those  of  Henry  Willobie  reversed,  and  that 
Henry  Willobie  assails  the  chastity  of  a  married  woman.  He  is,  however,  re- 
pulsed by  the  chaste  Avisa.  Except  in  the  reference  to  W.  S.'s  love,  and  his 
recovery  from  passion,  I  see  no  possible  point  of  connection  between  Witto- 
bie's  Avisa  and  Sh.'s  Sonnets."  (Intro.,  pp.  42-43.)  Fleay,  on  the  other  hand, 
in  his  Life  and  Work  of  Sh.  (1886),  represented  the  work  as  of  the  greatest 
importance  for  the  study  of  the  Sonnets,  and  identified  Avisa  as  the  Dark 
Lady,  conjecturing  that  she  was  an  innkeeper's  daughter  in  the  "West  of 
England."  f  This  notion  was  further  developed  by  Plumptre,  in  an  article 
in  the  Contemporary  Review  for  1889,  wherein  he  constructed  an  outline  of 
certain  provincial  journeyings  of  Sh.  in  1593,  and  located  Avisa  the  Dark 
Lady  in  Glastonbury.  Lee  gave  some  further  countenance  to  these  conjec- 
tures, both  in  his  Life  of  Sh.  and  in  the  account  of  the  actual  Henry  Willoughby 
in  the  D.  N.  B.  "The  mention  of  '  W.  S. '  as  'the  old  player,'  and  the  employ- 
ment of  theatrical  imagery  in  discussing  his  relations  with  Willobie,  must  be 
coupled  with  the  fact  that  Sh.,  at  a  date  when  mentions  of  him  in  print  were 
rare,  was  eulogized  by  name  as  the  author  of  Lucrece  in  some  prefatory  verses 

*  Another  reprint  was  made  by  C.  Hughes,  1904;  and  still  another  by  Acheson,  as  a  supple- 
ment to  his  Mistress  Davenant,  1913-  In  1886  the  Spenser  Society  reprinted  the  edition  of 
1635.  Hughes,  in  his  edition,  discovered  a  real  Henry  Willoughby  and  a  real  Avisa  (or  Avice) 
Forward. 

t  This  is  due  to  the  single  stanza  which  forms  Canto  46,  in  which  Willobie  thus  locates  the 
heroine: 

Seest  yonder  howse,  where  hanges  the  badge 
Of  Englands  Saint,  when  captaines  cry 
Victorious  land,  to  conquering  rage, 
Loe,  there  my  hopelesse  helpe  doth  ly: 
And  there  that  frendly  foe  doth  dwell, 
That  makes  my  hart  thus  rage  and  swell. 


48o  '      APPENDIX 

to  the  volume.  From  such  considerations  the  theory  of  W.  S.'s  identity  with 
Willobie's  acquaintance  acquires  substance.  If  we  assume  that  it  was  Sh.  who 
took  a  roguish  delight  in  watching  his  friend  Willobie  suffer  the  disdain  of 
'chaste  Avisa'  because  he  had  'newly  recovered'  from  the  effects  of  a  like 
experience,  it  is  clear  that  the  theft  of  Sh.'s  mistress  by  another  friend  did  not 
cause  him  deep  or  lasting  distress."  (Life,  pp.  I57~58-)  Beeching,  on  the  other 
hand,  dismisses  the  identification  with  a  few  words,  in  his  edition  of  the  Son- 
nets (1904):  "The  sole  ground  for  the  conjecture  is  that  W.  S.  is  referred 
to  as  the  'old  player.'  But  the  love  affair  had  been  previously  spoken  of  as  'a 
comedy  like  to  end  in  a  tragedy,'  and  Willobie  himself  is  called  the  '  new  actor.' 
There  is,  therefore,  not  the  slightest  reason  for  taking  the  one  expression  more 
literally  than  the  other.  And  where,  it  may  be  asked,  is  there  anything  in  the 
Sonnets  that  could  be  referred  to  as  a  recovery  from  love?  "  (Intro.,  p.  xxvii  n.) 

It  remained  for  Acheson  to  develop  the  Ingleby-Fleay  view  of  Willobie 
his  Avisa  in  proportions  hitherto  undreamed-of,  in  his  book  called  Mistress 
Davenant  the  Dark  Lady  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets  (1913).  It  is  impossible  to  outline  the 
argument  of  this  work  in  brief,*  as  it  is  entangled  with  the  writer's  theory  of 
Chapman  as  Sh.'s  rival  and  enemy,  and  with  his  other  theory  of  Matthew 
Roydon  as  author  of  Willobie  and  also  of  certain  verses  in  The  Passionate 
Pilgrim  (beginning  "Whenas  thine  eye  hath  chose  the  dame")  which  bear 
some  resemblance  to  the  argument  of  "  W.  S."  in  Canto  47.  In  Acheson's  view 
Avisa  is  to  be  identified  with  Mistress  Jane  Davenant  of  Oxford,  W.  S.  with 
Southampton,  and  the  whole  poem  is  to  be  viewed  as  a  scurrilous  attack  upon 
Sh.  by  Roydon,  on  account  of  which  it  was  "called  in"  by  the  censors  in  1599. 
This  theory  is  ingenious  and  at  times  illusively  plausible,  but  may  be  said 
without  hesitation  to  be  wholly  destitute  of  proof  in  every  essential  particular. 

The  same  thing  is  true  not  merely  of  this  particular  form  of  the  theory,  but 
of  the  entire  hypothesis  that  Willobie  his  Avisa  forms  a  commentary  on  the 
Sonnets.  In  the  first  place,  no  real  reason  has  appeared  for  connecting  the 
name  of  Sh.  with  the  W.  S.  of  the  poem.  W.  S.  had  been  in  love  and  professed 
to  be  an  authority  on  love;  surely  by  no  means  an  unique  distinction.  As  to 
his  being  called  an*  "old  player,"  he  is  so  called,  as  Beeching  points  out,  pre- 
cisely as  Willobie  is  called  a  "new  actor,"  and  no  one  has  identified  Willobie 
with  a  theatrical  personage.  It  might  be  argued  that,  if  we  knew  W.  S.  to  be 
Sh.,  the  comedy-tragedy  metaphor  would  have  more  point  because  one  of  the 
two  persons  concerned  was  a  player  in  other  than  a  metaphorical  sense;  and 
on  the  other  hand  it  might  be  argued  that  its  aptness  would  thereby  be  les- 
sened. But  assuming  the  former,  we  are  still  far  from  having  proof  that  either 
of  the  lovers  was  an  actor,  much  less  that  he  was  Sh.  Neither  is  there  any  reason 
to  associate  the  initials  with  the  fact  that  Sh.  is  mentioned  in  prefatory  verses. 
No  connection  with  the  story  of  Avisa  is  suggested  in  these  verses,  and  the 
circumstances  could,  at  most,  be  used  only  by  way  of  reply  in  case  any  one 

*  See  careful  reviews  of  it,  by  S.  A.  Tannenbaum  and  by  the  present  editor,  noted  in  the 
Bibliography,  under  V,  1014  and  ioi5^  What  follows  in  the  present  section  is  in  part  reprinted 
from  the  latter  review,  in  the  Journal  of  English  and  Germanic  Philology. 


"WILLOBIE  HIS  AVISA"  481 

undertook  to  argue  the  improbability  of  Sh.'s  being  known  to  the  author  of 
Willobie.  The  prefatory  epistle  mentions  both  Sidney  and  Spenser  in  some- 
what similar  fashion;  but  should  we,  on  that  account,  find  it  significant  if  any 
of  the  characters  in  the  story  bore  names  with  the  initials  P.  S.  or  E.  S.?  More- 
over, it  should  be  recalled  that  "  W.  S."  is  represented  very  unflatteringly  in  the 
story;  so  that,  if  the  prefatory  allusion  to  Sh.  is  eulogistic,  as  Lee  regards  it, 
we  should  not  be  likely  to  find  the  two  mentions  of  him  under  the  same  aus- 
pices. The  only  other  argument  for  the  identification  which  can  be  taken  at 
all  seriously  is  the  alleged  resemblance  of  the  verses  in  The  Passionate  Pilgrim 
(published  five  years  later  than  Aviso)  to  W.  S.'s  advice  on  the  subject  of  love. 
This  resemblance  is  not  very  striking,  apart  from  the  cynical  doctrine  of  se- 
duction, which,  as  the  Preface  to  Willobie  abundantly  emphasizes,  was  highly 
conventional;  but  even  if  it  seemed  to  be  significant,  it  would  be  very  difficult 
to  say  of  what.  The  author  of  the  Passionate  Pilgrim  verses  is  wholly  unknown, 
and  Acheson  —  oddly  enough  —  disposes  of  the  only  apparent  ground  for 
thinking  them  to  represent  Sh.'s  doctrine,  by  alleging  that  they  were  written 
by  Roydon.  And  whether  we  should  suppose  that  Sh.  or  some  one  else  imitated 
the  work  of  the  Avisa  poet,  or  (assuming  that  the  Passionate  Pilgrim  poem 
was  written  and  was  known  long  before  it  was  published)  that  the  latter  was 
the  imitator,  there  is  still  no  reason  for  assuming  that  the  personality  of  Sh. 
is  to  be  associated  with  the  speaker  in  Avisa.  The  notion,  then,  that  Wiilobie's 
friend  was  Sh.,  or  that  Henry  Willobie  himself  was  Henry  Wriothesley 
(Southampton),  is  precisely  like  the  various  theories  that  the  W.  H.  of  the 
Dedication  is  William  Herbert,  William  Hall,  William  Hughes,  William  Hart, 
and  William  Hervey;  it  is  open  to  any  one  to  hold  who  finds  pleasure  in  doing 
so,  provided  he  does  not  draw  inferences  from  it  as  from  known  facts.* 

But  even  if  the  identification  of  Wiilobie's  W.  S.  with  Sh.  had  been  found 
probable,  there  would  still  be  no  reason  for  viewing  the  poem  as  a  commentary 
on  the  Sonnets.  What  should  we  have  learned?  That  Sh.  was  said  to  have  been 
lately  in  love,  and  to  have  recovered  from  the  passion.  Can  we  then  assume 
that  it  was  with  the  Dark  Lady  that  he  had  been  in  love?  This,  in  the  first 
place,  would  imply  an  earlier  date  for  the  Sonnets  than  most  critics  find  credible 
—  if  the  affair  was  referred  to  as  an  old  story  in  1594.  And  as  to  recovery,  as 
Beeching  asks,  what  is  there  in  the  Sonnets  of  that?  Moreover,  is  it  safe  to 
assume  that  Sh.  was  never  in  love  but  once?  If  his  friends  "laughed  at  his 
folly"  in  connection  with  the  fascinating  adulteress  of  the  Sonnets,  is  it  cer- 
tain that  this  was  the  only  opportunity  he  ever  gave  for  such  laughter?  Of 
course  there  are  those  who  believe  that  a  single  female  personality  dominated 
the  poet's  whole  life  and  appears  in  all  his  works;  but  in  that  case,  again,  it 
would  not  be  an  experience  from  which  he  had  "recovered." 

As  to  the  identification  of  Avisa  with  the  Dark  Lady,  that  is  still  less  rea- 

*  Acheson  supposes  that  he  has  confirmed  the  connection  of  Avisa  with  Sh.,  in  showing  that 
it  was  written  "by  Roydon;  on  which  it  may  be  remarked  (i)  that  he  has  not  shown  this  with 
anything  like  adequacy;  (2)  that  if  he  had,  the  chain  of  reasoning  would  amount  to  this:  Roy- 
don was  a  friend  of  Chapman's;  Chapman  was  an  enemy  of  Sh.'s  (another  unproved  hypothesis) ; 
therefore  when  Roydon  introduces  a  W.  S.  as  a  cynical  person  lately  in  love,  it  must  be  Sh. 


482  APPENDIX 

sonable.  Are  we  to  understand,  when  W.  S.  is  said  to  have  recovered  "from 
the  like  infection,"  that  he  had  been  in  love  with  the  same  person  as  Willobie? 
There  is  nothing  in  the  text  to  indicate  it;  on  the  contrary,  Avisa's  lovers  and 
their  arguments  have  been  enumerated,  —  the  list  of  them  forms  the  very 
structure  of  this  portion  of  the  poem,  —  and  W.  S.  appears  only  as  Willobie 's 
friend.  Moreover,  Avisa's  virtue,  it  will  be  recalled,  remains  unconquered. 
When  all  is  said,  she  remains  the  flower  of  English  domestic  virtue.  The  answer 
given  by  Fleay  and  Acheson  to  this  is  that  the  whole  work  is  a  satire,  and  is  to 
be  read  by  inversion.  There  is  evidence,  as  we  have  seen,  —  and  as  appears 
further  from  the  "apology"  added  in  later  editions,  —  that  the  poem  was 
understood  to  involve  personal  allusions,  and  to  be  suspected  on  that  account. 
But  to  admit  this  is  quite  a  different  matter  from  the  supposition  that  the 
whole  story  is  to  be  read  as  that  of  an  wwchaste  lady.  If  it  is,  the  point  is  very 
difficult  to  discover.  To  put  the  matter  otherwise:  suppose  it  to  be  the  desire 
of  the  author  to  ridicule  Sh.  and  his  friend  for  having  been  concerned  in  an 
intrigue  with  a  countrywoman,  the  circumstances  being  (if  we  take  the  story 
hinted  in  the  Sonnets  as  our  authority)  that  Sh.  had  first  won  her  as  his  mis- 
tress, and  had  been  supplanted  by  his  friend.  There  are  various  satiric  tales 
which  might  be  devised  to  represent  such  a  situation;  but  among  them,  it  is 
safe  to  say,  one  would  hardly  find  such  a  plot  as  this,  —  a  virtuous  lady  is 
wooed  by  many  lovers,  and  resists  them  all;  H.  W.  joins  the  number,  and  after 
a  repulse,  consults  W.  S.  for  advice;  W.  S.  bids  him  persist  and  hope  for  suc- 
cess; he  does  persist,  but  meets  with  a  final  repulse  and  adieu.  If  this  be  a 
burlesque,  or  satire,  of  the  story  which  has  generally  been  read  in  connection 
with  the  triangle  of  characters  in  the  Sonnets,  the  difficult  irony  of  a  Defoe 
or  a  Swift  pales  into  insignificance  beside  the  ambiguity  which  its  author 
attained. 

It  should  perhaps  be  added  that  Acheson's  identification  of  Avisa  with  Mis- 
tress Jane  Davenant  of  Oxford  is  based  on  such  proofs  as  the  following.  The 
Preface  to  the  poem  is  dated  at  Oxford;  we  may  therefore  locate  the  action 
of  the  story  there.  The  writer  of  the  Preface  refers  to  a  certain  "A.  D."  as 
known  to  him  as  being  equally  virtuous  with  Avisa;  and  D.  is  the  initial  of  Dave- 
nant. A  well-known  bit  of  17th  century  scandal  associated  Sh.  with  the  mother 
of  Sir  William  Davenant,  —  who,  to  be  sure,  was  born  in  1606,  ten  years  after 
the  period  of  the  poem.  Avisa  was  found  at  a  house  "where  hangs  the  badge 
of  England's  saint,"  and  in  1619  John  Davenant,  husband  of  Jane,  was  vintner 
of  the  Cross  Inn  —  probably  the  cross  of  St.  George.*  The  theory  of  the  sig- 
nificance of  Willobie  his  Avisa  in  connection  with  the  Sonnets  has  thus  found 
an  appropriate  reductio  ad  absurdum. 

*  This  is  the  view  of  Acheson's  later  publication,  the  pamphlet  called  "A  Woman  Coloured 
111."  In  the  original  form  his  assumption  was  that  Davenant  was  at  one  time  proprietor  of  the 
George  Inn,  though  evidence  for  this  was  wholly  wanting. 


MUSICAL  SETTINGS 


The  following  list  of  musical  settings  for  the  Sonnets  is  from  the  account 
given  in  A  List  of  all  the  Songs  and  Passages  in  Sh.  which  have  been  set  to  Music, 
published  by  the  New  Shakspere  Society,  1884;   with  two  items  added  (in 


brackets) 

543-44- 
Sonnet 
Sonnet 
Sonnet 


from  a  list  compiled   by  Helen  Clarke,  in  Shakespeariana,  5: 


You  Like  It).  1824.  (Lines  1-8.) 


5.  Richard  Simpson.   1878.* 

6.  Richard  Simpson.   1878. 

7.  Sir  Henry  Bishop  (in  As 
Richard  Simpson.   1878. 

Sonnet    18.  Charles  Horn  (in  The  Tempest).  1821. 
E.  Loder  (in  "Six  Songs").  1838. 
J.    Reekes    (in   "Six   Shakspere  Songs").   Ab.    1850.     (Lines 

i-3,  9-) 

Robert  Hoar.  1876. 

Lady  Ramsey  of  Banff. 
Sonnet    25.  Sir  Henry  Bishop  (in  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona).   1821.    (Lines 
1-4;  sung  in  a  duet  by  Julia  and  Sylvia,  the  latter  singing 
lines  1-4  of  S.  97.) 
Sonnet    27.  Richard  Simpson.  1878. 

Sonnet    29.  Sir  Henry  Bishop  (in  T.G.V.).  1821.  (Lines  1-4,  9-12.) 
Sonnet    33.  Sir  Henry  Bishop  (in  Twelfth  Night).  1820. 

J.  Reekes  (in  "Six  Shakspere  Songs").   Ab.  1850.    (Lines  1-4, 
9-12.) 
Sonnet    40.  Sir  Henry  Bishop  (in  T.N.).  1820. 

Charles  Horn  (in  The  Tempest).  1821. 
Sonnet    54.  Sir  Henry  Bishop  (in  T.N.).  1820.  (Lines  1-4.) 

George  Barker  (in  the  "Ballad  Album").  1870. 
Sonnet    58.  Richard  Simpson.  1878. 
Sonnet    59.  Richard  Simpson.  1878. 
[Sonnet    62.  Charles  Horn  (in  The  Tempest).  182 1.] 
Sonnet    63.  Richard  Simpson.  1878. 

Sonnet    64.  Sir  Henry  Bishop  (in  T.G.V.).  1821.  (Lines  5~I2.) 
Sonnet    71.  Richard  Simpson.  1878. 
Sonnet    73.  Sir  Henry  Bishop  (in  T.G.V.).  1821.  (Lines  1-8.) 

Richard  Simpson.  1878. 
Sonnet    81.  Richard  Simpson.     1878. 
[Sonnet    84.  Sir  Henry  Bishop  (in  T.G.V.).  1821.] 


*  This  Richard  Simpson,  it  appears,  composed  airs  for  the  entire  collection  of  Sonnets,  but 
only  a  dozen  were  published,  1878. 


484  APPENDIX 

Sonnet    87.  J.  Reekes  (in  "Six  Shakspere  Songs").  Ab.  1850.  (Lines  1-4.) 

Caracciolo. 
Sonnet    92.  Sir  Henry  Bishop  (in  T.G.V.).  1821. 

(Line  1  reads,  "Say  tho'  you  strive  to  steal  yourself  away.") 
Sonnet    96.  Richard  Simpson.  1878. 

Sonnet    97.  Sir  Henry  Bishop  (in  T.G.V.).  1821.  (Lines  1-4.) 
Sonnet  109.  M.  P.  King. 

Sir  Henry  Bishop  (in  T.G.V.).  1821.  (Lines  1-4,  13-14.) 
Sonnet  no.  Richard  Simpson.  1878.  (Two  renderings.) 
Sonnet  116.  John  Braham    (in   Taming  of  the  Shrew).  1828.  Lines   5-14. 

(Called  "Love  is  an  ever- fixed  mark.") 
Sonnet  123.  Sir  Henry   Bishop    (in  As    You  Like  It).  1824.  (Lines   1-4, 

13-14.) 
Sonnet  148.  Sir  Henry  Bishop  (in  As  You  Like  It).  1824.  (Lines  1-12.) 

In  the  Academy  of  Feb.  3,  1894  (p-  XIo)  is  a  mention  of  Sonnets  18,  29,  and 
99  as  having  been  set  to  music  by  A.  C.  Mackenzie,  and  sung  in  London. 
Rolfe,  commenting  on  this  in  a  note  in  The  Critic  (n.s.,  21 :  238),  states  that 
Sonnet  29  had  been  set  five  times  previously,  and  that  Sonnet  109  had  had  four 
musical  renderings,  but  gives  no  details  or  authority.  Henry  Brown,  in  his 
essay  on  "  The  Singing  of  the  Sonnets  "  (in  Sh.'s  Patrons,  1912),  mentions  that 
Sonnet  33  was  sung  at  a  concert  after  a  performance  of  Cymbeline  on  June  19, 
1822. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

This  list  is  divided  into  six  sections,  under  each  of  which  it  is  chrono- 
logically arranged : 

I.  Separate  editions  of  the  Sonnets  (including  those  which  also  con- 
tain "A  Lover's  Complaint"). 
II.  Editions  in  collected  Poems  and  Works  of  Shakespeare. 

III.  Translations. 
«=s  IV.  Books  and  monographs  devoted  to  the  Sonnets. 
— ■  V.  Articles  in  serial  publications. 

VI.  Books  containing  incidental  matter  on  the  Sonnets. 

The  first  five  sections  are  as  complete  as  the  available  data  have  made 
possible ;  Section  VI  includes  only  works  cited  in  the  commentary,  or  be- 
lieved to  be  significant  for  other  reasons.  Books  and  articles  dealing  with 
the  Baconian  theory  as  applied  to  the  Sonnets  are  not  included,  since  they 
form  a  special  problem  of  interest  to  a  distinct  group  of  readers. 

Publishers'  names  are  in  parentheses.  The  place  of  publication  is  London 
unless  otherwise  noted.  An  asterisk  prefixed  to  the  date  indicates  that  the 
work  has  not  been  seen  by  the  present  editor,  but  is  entered  from  another 
bibliography.  Second  and  later  editions  are  not  listed  separately,  but  are 
mentioned  under  the  date  of  the  first  edition.  No  attempt  is  made  to  give 
the  full  contents  of  title-pages,  or  to  include  format  and  collation. 

The  index  to  the  Bibliography  will  be  found  to  refer  each  title  cited  to 
the  year  of  publication  and  the  group  in  which  it  is  listed.  It  can  therefore 
be  used  for  certain  purposes  as  an  independent  reference  list;  thus,  the 
entry  "Dowden.  I,  1881,"  indicates  that  Dowden  edited  the  Sonnets  in 
1 88 1,  and  "  Bodenstedt.  Ilia,  1862,"  that  Bodenstedt  translated  them  into 
German  in  1862. 

I.   SEPARATE   EDITIONS 

1609.  Shake-speares  Sonnets.   Never  before  Imprinted. 

Two  title-pages  are  distinguishable,  one  with  the  imprint  "By 
G.  Eld  for  T.  T.  and  are  to  be  solde  by  John  Wright,  dwelling  at 
Christ  Church  gate,"  the  other  "By  G.  Eld  for  T.  T.and  are  to 
be  solde  by  William  Aspley."  The  former  is  the  basis  of  the 
Praetorius  facsimile  of  1886,  the  latter  of  the  Clarendon  Press 
facsimile  of  1905. 

1830.  Sonnets  of  Sh.  and  Milton.   (Moxon.) 
♦1839.  Sonnets  of  Sh.  (W.  Smith.)   [Jaggard,  p.  453a.] 

1840.  Sonnets  by  W.  Sh.  A  new  edition.    (Ball  &  Arnold.) 
*i850.  Sonnets.  .  .  .  Facsimile  reprint  of  the  first  edition.   [Jaggard,  p. 
453a.] 


488  BIBLIOGRAPHY  [i 

1859.  Sonnets  of  W.  Sh.,  rearranged  and  divided  into  four  parts.  With 
an  introduction  and  explanatory  notes  [by  R.  Cartwright].  (J. 
R.  Smith.) 

1862.  Sh.'s  Sonnets:  reproduced  in  facsimile  by  the  new  process  of 
photo-zincography  in  use  at  Her  Majesty's  Ordnance  Survey 
Office.  From  the  unrivalled  Original  in  the  Library  of  Bridge- 
water  House  [etc.].   (Lovell  Reeve  &  Co.) 

1865.  Sh.'s  Sonnets.   Boston.   (Ticknor  &  Fields.) 

1868.  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  with  Commentaries  by  T.  D.  Budd.  Philadelphia. 
(J.  Campbell.) 

1870.  Sh.'s  Sonnets  and  A  Lover's  Complaint.  Reprinted  in  the 
orthography  and  punctuation  of  the  original  edition  of  1609. 
(J.  R.  Smith.) 

1877.  Sh.'s  Sonnets.  Vest-pocket  Series.   Boston.   (Osgood.) 

1878.  Sonnets  by  W.  Sh.,  illustrated  by  Sir  John  Gilbert  and  others 

Emerald  Series.   (Routledge.) 

In  1862,  1863,  1875,  1877,  etc.,  appeared  volumes  entitled 
"Sh.'s  Songs  and  Sonnets,  illustrated  by  John  Gilbert,"  contain- 
ing in  some  cases  only  three  of  the  Sonnets,  in  others  fifteen.  The 
1878  volume  is  complete. 

1881.  Sonnets  of  W.  Sh.   Edited  by  Edward  Dowden.    (Kegan  Paul.) 
Another  edition  of  the  same  year  (Parchment  Series)  gives  an 
abbreviated  form  of  the  introduction,  and  a  revision  of  the  notes. 
Another  abbreviated  edition  ("Dryden  Library")  appeared  in 
1905. 
*  1 88 1.  Sonnets  of  Sh.    English  Library.   Zurich.    (Rudolphi.)   [Jaggard, 
p.  454a.] 
1883.  Sh.'s  Sonnets.   Edited  by  W.  J.  Rolfe.   New  York.   (Harper.) 

Introduction  and  notes.  A  revised  edition  in  1890;  a  new  edi- 
tion (American  Book  Co.)  in  1905. 

[In  1883  also  appeared  "Some  well-known  'Sugar'd  Sonnets' 
by  W.  Sh.  Resugar'd  with  ornamental  borders  ...  by  E.  J.  Ellis 
and  T.  J.  Ellis."  This  contains  ten  Sonnets,  with  illustrations  and 
notes  in  a  humorous  vein,  and  is  perhaps  notable  as  the  only  work 
in  this  entire  list  which  does  not  take  the  subject  seriously.] 

[1886.]  Sh.'s  Sonnets.  The  first  Quarto,  1609,  facsimile  in  photo- 
lithography (from  the  British  Museum  copy),  by  C.  Praetorius. 
Introduction  by  T.  Tyler.   (Praetorius.) 

1890.  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  edited  with  Notes  and  Introduction  by  Thomas 
Tyler.   (Nutt.) 

A  new  edition,  1899,  with  appendix  in  reply  to  critics. 

1895.  Sonnets  of  W.  Sh.,  with  decorations  by  Ernest  G.  Treglown, 
engraved  on  wood  by  Charles  Carr  [etc.].    Birmingham  and 
London.   (Napier.) 
"1895.  Sonnets  of  Sh.,  edited  by  W.  A.  Brockington ;  illustrated  by  E.  G. 
Treglown.   (Tylston  &  Edwards,  etc.)  [Jahrbuch,  33:  317.] 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  489 

1896.  Sh.'s  Sonnets.    Edited  by  I.  Gollancz.    Temple  Shakespeare. 

(Dent.)   [Introduction  and  notes.] 

1897.  Sh.'s  Sonnets.   English  Love  Sonnets  series.   Boston.   (Copeland 

&  Day.) 

1899.  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  reconsidered  and  in  part  rearranged,  with  intro- 
ductory chapters,  notes,  and  a  reprint  of  the  original  1609 
edition,  by  Samuel  Butler.    (Fifield.) 

1899.  Sh.'s  Sonnets.    Illustrated  by  Henry  Ospovat.    (Lane.) 

1899.  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  reprinted  from  the  edition  of  1609.   Seen  through 
the  press  by  T.  S.  Moore;  with  designs  by  C.  S.  Ricketts. 
(Hacon  &  Ricketts.) 
Another  edition  in  1903. 

1899.  Sonnets  of  W.  Sh.   Decorations  by  C.  Dean.   (Bell.) 

1899.  Sonnets  of  Sh.  Seen  through  the  press  by  Elbert  Hubbard.  New 

York.    (Roycroft  Press.) 

1900.  Sh.'s  Sonnets.  Bibelot  edition.  Edited  by  J.  P.  Briscoe.   (Gay  & 

Bird.)   [Introduction.] 

1 90 1.  Sonnets  of  Sh.,  now  newly  imprinted  from  the  first  edition  of  1609 

by  Clarke  Conwell  at  the  Elston  Press.   New  Rochelle,  N.Y. 

1901.  Sh.'s  Sonnets.  Old  World  Series.   Portland,  Maine.   (Mosher.) 

Another  edition  in  1907. 

1902.  Sonnets  of  Sh.   Lover's  Library.   (Lane.) 

1902.  Sonnets  of  Sh.    [Reprinted  from  the  Quarto,  with  corrections.] 

Guildford.   (Astolat  Press.) 
1902.  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  with  Introduction  and  Notes  by  J.  Dennis,  and 
illustrations  by  Byam  Shaw.   Chiswick  edition.    (Bell.) 
*I902.  Sh.'s  Sonnets.   Edited  by  Mathilde  Blind.    (De  la  More  Press.) 

[Jaggard,  p.  455b.] 
[1903.]  Sonnets  by  W.  Sh.    Ariel  Booklets.    New  York.    (Putnam.) 

[Glossary.] 
*iox)3.  Sh.'s  Sonnets.    Edited  with  notes  by  H.  N.  Hudson.   Windsor 
edition.   Edinburgh.   (Jack.)    [Jaggard,  p.  455b.] 
1904.  Sh.'s  Sonnets.    Edited  by  C.  C.  Stopes.    King's  Shakespeare. 

(De  la  More  Press.)   [Introduction  and  notes.] 
1904.  Sh.'s  Sonnets.    Favorite  Classics  edition.    Introduction  by  G. 
Brandes.   (Heinemann.) 
[1904.]  Sh.'s  Sonnets  and  A  Lover's  Complaint.    Ellen  Terry  edition. 
Edited  and  compared  with  the  best  texts  by  J.  Talfourd  Blair. 
Glasgow.    (Bryce.) 
1904.  Sonnets  of  Sh.    Edited  by  H.  C.  Beeching.   Athenaeum   Press 
series.   Boston.    (Ginn.)   [Introduction  and  notes.] 

1904.  Sonnets  by  W.  Sh.  Carefully  corrected  and  compared  with  [the 

edition  of  1609].   (Astolat  Press.) 

1905.  Sonnets  of  Sh.    Introduction  and  Notes  by  W.  J.  Craig.   Little 

Quartos  edition.   (Methuen.) 


490  BIBLIOGRAPHY  '  [n 

1905.  Sh.'s  Sonnets.  A  reproduction  in  facsimile  of  the  first  edition 
(1609).  With  Introduction  and  Bibliography  by  Sidney  Lee. 
Oxford.   (Clarendon  Press.) 

1905.  Sh.'s  Sonnets.    Stratford-on-Avon.    (Sh.  Head  Press.)    [Final 

note  by  A.  H.  Bullen.] 

1906.  Sonnets  of  Sh.     [The  songs   also   included.]     Royal   Library. 

(Humphreys.) 

1907.  Sh.'s  Sonnets  and  A  Lover's  Complaint.   With  an  Introduction 

by   W.    H.    Hadow.     Tudor   and   Stuart   Library.     Oxford. 
(Clarendon  Press.)   [Introduction  and  textual  notes.] 

1908.  Sh.'s  Complete  Sonnets.  A  new  arrangement,  with  an  Introduc- 

tion and  Notes  by  C.  M.  Walsh.    (Unwin.) 

1909.  Sh.'s  Sonnets.    Tercentenary  edition.    Hammersmith.    (Doves 

Press.) 

1909.  Sh.'s  Sonnets.  (Sidgwick  &  Jackson.) 

*i9io.  Sh.'s  Sonnets.  Leipzig.   (Rowohlt.)   [Jahrbuch,  48:  303.] 

[191 1.]  Sh.'s  Sonnets.  Langham  Booklets. 

[191 1.]  Sh.'s  Sonnets.  (Siegle,  Hill  &  Co.)  [Contains  only  Sonnets  1-92.] 

[191 1.]  Sh.'s  Sonnets.  Queen's  Library.    (Siegle.) 

[1912.]  Sh.'s  Sonnets.  Decorations  by  A.  J.  Iorio.    (Harrap.) 

1912.  Sh.'s  Sonnets.  Decorations  by  A.  J.  Iorio.  Boston  &  New  York. 

(Caldwell.) 
[1912.]  Sonnets  of  Sh.    Arden  Books. 

19 1 3.  Sonnets  of  Mr.  W.  Sh.   Riccardi  Press  Booklets. 

1913.  Sonnets  and  A  Lover's  Complaint.  Edited  by  R.  M.  Alden. 
Tudor  Shakespeare.  New  York.  (Macmillan.)  [Introduction 
and  notes.] 

[In  1913  also  appeared  "Sonnets  by  Sh."  with  decorations  by 
Edith  A.  Ibbs;  fifteen  selected  Sonnets  only.    (Constable.)] 

II.   EDITIONS   IN   COLLECTED   POEMS  AND   WORKS 

[After  1800  editions  of  the  Works  of  Shakespeare,  and  collections  like  Chal- 
mers's British  Poets,  are  not  listed  unless  they  include  a  new  text  or  significant 
apparatus  for  the  Sonnets.] 

1640.  Poems,  written  by  Wil.  Shake-speare,  Gent.  Printed  at  London 
by  Tho.  Cotes  and  are  to  be  sold  by  John  Benson  [etc.]. 

This  contains  146  of  the  Sonnets  (omitting  Nos.  18,  19,  43,  56, 
75.  76,  96,  126),  arranged  in  groups,  with  group  titles,  and  inter- 
spersed with  various  lyrics  by  Shakespeare  and  others.  This  text 
and  arrangement  formed  the  basis  of  most  of  the  18th  century 
editions  before  Malone. 

1710.  A  Collection  of  Poems,  in  Two  Volumes;  Being  all  the  Miscel- 
lanies of  Mr.  William  Shakespeare  [etc.].    (Bernard  Lintott.) 
The  first  volume  is  dated  1709.   The  second  contains  the  Son- 
nets, printed  from  the  quarto  of  1609,  with  few  corrections.    The 
two  volumes  are  frequently  found  bound  in  one.   It  is  Capell's  ex- 


ii]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  491 

emplar  of  this  edition,  included  in  his  bequest  to  Trinity  College 
Library,  Cambridge,  which  he  corrected  as  the  copy  for  a  projected 
edition,  and  which  is  frequently  referred  to  as  the  "Capell  MS." 

17 10.  Works  of  Mr.  William  Sh.  Volume  the  Seventh.  Containing 
Venus  and  Adonis,  The  Rape  of  Lucrece,  and  His  Miscellany 
Poems.    (E.  Curll  &  E.  Sanger.) 

This  was  issued  as  a  final  volume  in  Rowe's  edition,  but  appears 
to  have  been  edited  by  Charles  Gildon.  A  revised  edition  appeared 
in  1714,  supplemental  to  the  Works  of  Sh.  of  that  year,  and  was 
now  called  Volume  the  Ninth.  For  an  account  of  both  volumes, 
see  the  article  in  Modern  Language  Notes,  cited  under  V,  1916.1 

1725.  Venus  and  Adonis,  Tarquin  and  Lucrece,  and  Mr.  Sh.'s  Miscel- 
lany Poems.  .  .  .  Revised  and  corrected,  with  a  preface  by  Dr. 
Sewell.    (A.  Bettesworth,  etc.). 

Issued  as  volume  7  of  Pope's  edition  of  the  Works  of  1723-25. 
The  text  is  revised  apparently  from  the  17 10  (Gildon)  version  of 
the  1640  edition.  A  newly  revised  edition,  1728  (also  found  with 
Tonson's  imprint)  was  issued  as  volume  10  of  Pope's  1728  edition. 

[1760.]  Poems  on  Several  Occasions,  by  Sh.    (Sold  by  A.  Murden,  R. 
Newton,  etc.) 

Apparently  a  reprint  of  the  Sewell  text  of  1728.  The  exact  date 
is  not  known. 

1766.  Twenty  of  the  Plays  of  Sh.  [etc.,  edited  by]  G.  Steevens.  (Ton- 
son.) 

The  Sonnets  are  included  in  volume  4,  in  accordance  with  this 
statement  in  the  Advertisement:  "I  have  likewise  reprinted  Sh.'s 
Sonnets,  from  a  copy  published  in  1609,  by  G.  Eld."  The  exact 
text  and  punctuation  of  the  Quarto  are  followed,  but  not  the 
italics  and  capitalization.  (According  to  Jaggard,  p.  452,  the 
Sonnets  were  also  issued  separately.) 

1771.  Poems,  containing  I.  Venus  and  Adonis;  .  .  .  IV.  Sonnets.  (T. 
Ewing.)    Dublin. 

Part  of  Ewing's  1771  Shakespeare;  largely  based  on  the  Sewell 
text  of  1728. 

1774.  Poems  written  by  Sh.  [Edited  by  F.  Gentleman.]  (J.  Bell  &  C. 
Etherington.) 

Uniform  with  Bell's  1774  Shakespeare.  The  text  is  based  on 
that  of  1728  and  1771. 

[1775.]  Poems  written  by  Mr.  W.  Sh.   Reprinted  for  Thomas  Evans. 
Intended  (according  to  Jaggard)  as  a  supplement  to  the  Capell 
edition  of  1760-68.   The  text  is  apparently  based  on  Sewell 's  of 
1728. 

1780.  Supplement  to  the  edition  of  Sh.'s  Plays  published  in  1778.  .  .  . 
Containing  additional  observations  by  several  of  the  former 

1  Jaggard  lists  another  17 14  edition  (p.  434b),  with  the  title-page  of  Lintott's  1710  volume, 
"  A  Collection  of  Poems,"  etc.;  but  this  is  erroneous,  as  no  such  volume  is  in  the  Boston  Li- 
brary where  Jaggard  locates  it,  nor  —  apparently  — elsewhere. 


492  BIBLIOGRAPHY  [n 

commentators:  to  which  are  subjoined  the  genuine  poems  of 
the  same  author,  .  .  .  with  notes  by  the  editor  and  others. 
[E.  Malone.]   (C.  Bathurst,  etc.) 

The  first  of  the  Malone  texts,  with  notes  chiefly  by  him  and 
Steevens.  The  text  is  based  on  that  of  1609,  with  evident  use  of 
the  earlier  18th  century  versions,  and  (as  the  Cambridge  editors 
suppose)  of  Capell's  MS.  revision. 

1790.  Plays  and  Poems  of  W.  Sh.  .  .  .  with  the  corrections  and  illus- 
trations of  various  commentators.   E.  Malone.    (Rivington.) 

The  Sonnets  in  volume  10,  with  the  same  material  as  in  the 
volume  of  1780,  but  revised. 

1794.  Plays  and  Poems.  .  .  .  Dublin.    (Exshaw.) 

The  "Dublin  Shakespeare";  Sonnets  in  volume  16.  The  text 
and  notes  are  from  M alone 's  of  1790. 

1795.  Works  of  the  British  Poets;  with  Prefaces,  biographical  and  crit- 

ical, by  Robert  Anderson.    (J.  &  A.  Arch;  J.  Mundell  &  Co., 

etc.) 

The  Sonnets  are  included  in  The  Poetical  Works  of  William  Sh., 
volume  2,  with  separate  title-page  (dated  1793,  Mundell,  Edin- 
burgh). The  text  is  Malone's  of  1780. 

I1 795-1  The  Poems  of  W.  Sh.,  viz.,  Venus  and  Adonis,  The  Rape  of 
Lucrece,  Sonnets,  .  .  .  with  Mr.  Capell's  history  of  the  origin 
of  Sh.'s  fables.  To  which  is  added  a  glossary.    (E.  Jeffery.) 

Jaggard  lists  what  is  apparently  another  edition  in  1805.  The 
Sonnets  text  is  that  of  Malone  (1780). 

1796.  Plays  and  Poems  of  W.  Sh.   Philadelphia.    (Bioren  &  Madan.) 

The  Sonnets  are  in  volume  8.  The  Malone  text.  [In  the  copy 
of  this  volume  belonging  to  the  Boston  Public  Library  is  a  photo- 
graphic facsimile  of  the  title-page  of  The  Poems  of  William  Sh., 
Philadelphia,  Bioren  and  Madan,  .1796  (presumably  a  separate 
issue  of  a  portion  of  volume  8),  with  a  MS.  letter  alluding  to  a 
copy  privately  owned  in  Washington,  D.C.,  as  "the  unique  first 
American  edition  of  Shakespeare's  Poems."  The  Library  of  Con- 
gress knows  nothing  of  such  a  separate  issue.] 

[1797.]  Poetical  Works  of  Sh.,  with  the  Life  of  the  Author.  Cooke's 
edition.   (C.  Cooke.) 

The  Malone  text  (1780)  of  the  Sonnets. 

1797.  The  Poems  of  W.  Sh.   (G.  &  J.  Robinson,  etc.) 

Volume  7  of  Robinson's  Works  of  Sh.  The  Malone  text  (1780) 
of  the  Sonnets. 

1804.  Poems  by  W.  Sh.,  with  illustrative  remarks,  original  and  select. 
[Edited  by  W.  C.  Oulton.]  (Chappie.) 

The  Sonnets  in  volume  2.  The  1640  text,  with  a  slight  variation 
in  the  order;   notes,  chiefly  from  Malone. 

1806.  Poetical  Works  of  W.  Sh.   (T.  WTilson,  etc.) 

Malone  text  of  1780;  a  few  peculiar  readings. 


ii]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  493 

1807.  Poems  of  Sh.,  to  which  is  added  an  account  of  his  life.    First 
American  edition.   Boston.    (Oliver  &  Munroe,  etc.) 

The  1640  arrangement.  As  to  its  being  the  first  American  edi- 
tion, see  note  under  1796. 

1809.  Poems  of  W.  Sh.   Boston.    (Munroe,  Francis,  &  Parker.) 

The  1640  arrangement. 

[1820.]  The  Poems  of  W.  Sh.,  with  three  engravings.   (J.  F.  Dove.) 

Another  edition,  dated  1830.   The  Malone  text. 

182 1.  Miscellaneous  Poems  of  W.  Sh.   (Sherwin  &  Co.) 

The  Malone  text. 

1 82 1.  Plays  and  Poems  of  W.  Sh.,  with  the  corrections  and  illustra- 

tions   of    various    commentators    [etc.].      [James    Boswell.] 
(Rivington,  etc.) 

Volume  20  of  Boswell's  Malone  (the  "third  Variorum").  The 
Malone  text  and  notes  of  1790,  with  a  few  corrections  and  addi- 
tions. 

1822.  Sonnets  of  W.  Sh.,  to  which  are  added  his  minor  poems  and  the 

songs  from  his  plays.  Whitehaven.   (Steel.) 

1825.  Poems  of  W.  Sh.    (Pickering.) 

Jaggard  lists  another  edition,  in  1826,  uniform  with  Pickering's 
Shakespeare  of  that  year. 

1826.  An  Appendix  to  Sh.'s  Dramatic  Works.    Leipsic.    (Fleischer.) 

Contains  the  Poems  and  Sonnets,  as  a  supplement  to  the 
Fleischer  edition  of  the  Plays;  with  Glossary. 

[1830?]  Poems  and  Songs  of  W.  Sh.    The  Standard  Poets,  volume  iv. 

(Strange.) 
1832.   Poems  of  Sh.    Aldine  edition.    [A.  Dyce.]    (Pickering.) 

Memoir  and  footnotes;  a  newly  revised  text.  Other  issues  in 
1842,  etc. 

1834.  Plays  and  Poems  of  Sh.    [1832-34.]  A.  J.  Valpy.   (Valpy.) 

Sonnets  in  volume  15;  notes.  Valpy 's  notes  were  reprinted  in 
the  Bohn  ed.  of  Sh.'s  Poetical  Works,  1862,  etc. 

[1837.]  Poetical  Works  of  W.  Sh.  Campe's  edition.  Nurnberg  and  New 

York.   (Campe.) 
1838.  Poems  of  W.  Sh.,  with  facts  connected  with  his  life  [etc.].  Knight's 
Cabinet  edition.   (Knight.) 

Life,  and  footnotes,  by  Charles  Knight.  The  text  follows  the 
Aldine,  with  a  few  exceptions.  Other  issues  in  1842,  etc. 

1840.  Poems  of  W.  Sh.   (Moxon.) 

1840.  Poems  of  W.  Sh.   (L.  A.  Lewis.)   [A  few  footnotes.] 

1841.  Poems  of  W.  Sh.   (Daly.) 

Another  issue,  without  date,  but  about  1850. 


494  BIBLIOGRAPHY  [n 

1843.  Pictorial  Edition  of  the  Works  of  Sh.    [1838-43.]    Edited  by 

Charles  Knight.    (Knight.) 

Sonnets  in  volume  6.  Notes,  and  an  essay  called  Illustration 
of  the  Sonnets,  which  was  widely  reprinted  elsewhere  without 
acknowledgment. 

1844.  Works  of  W.  Sh.   Edited  by  J.  P.  Collier.   (Whittaker.) 

Sonnets  in  volume  8.  Introduction  and  notes.  Other  editions 
in  1858  and  1878. 

1851.  Poems  of  W.  Sh.   Philadelphia.   (Locker.) 

1852.  Supplementary  Works  of  W.  Sh.,  comprising  his  poems  and 

doubtful  plays  [etc.].    A  new  edition  by  W.  Hazlitt.    (Rout- 
ledge.) 

Supplementary  to  Hazlitt's  revision  of  the  1778  edition  of  the 
Plays.   Preface  and  footnotes. 

1852.  Poems  of  W.  Sh.   Hartford.   (Andrus.) 

1855.  Poems  of  W.  Sh.   Edited  by  Robert  Bell.  Annotated  edition  of 

the  English  Poets. 

Introduction  and  footnotes.  Other  issues  in  1861,  etc. 
[1855.]  Poems  of  W.  Sh.   Philadelphia.   (J.  B.  Smith.) 

1856.  Sh.'s  Werke,  herausgegeben  und  erklart  von  N.  Delius.    Elber- 

feld. 

Sonnets  in  volume  7.  Other  editions  in  1864  and  1872.  There 
also  appeared  at  Leipzig,  in  1854  and  again  in  1864,  a  one- volume 
edition  of  Sh.'s  Works  (entirely  in  English),  which  is  usually  listed 
as  Delius's,  the  Preface  being  signed  "Dr.  D."  The  text  of  the 
Sonnets  in  this  edition  is  full  of  errors,  and  can  hardly  have  been 
revised  by  Delius;  it  also  presents  a  new  arrangement  (see  p.  437 
above),  which  may  be  based  on  his  view  of  the  Sonnets  as  im- 
personal literary  performances. 

1856.  Works  of  W.  Sh.  [1851-56.]    Edited  by  H.  N.  Hudson.  Boston. 
(Munroe.) 

Sonnets  in  volume  11.  Introduction  and  notes.  A  new  edition 
(Harvard  edition),  1880-81,  with  the  Sonnets  in  volume  20. 

1856.  Poetical  Works  of  W.  Sh.  and  the  Earl  of  Surrey;  with  Memoirs, 
Critical  Dissertations,  and  Explanatory  Notes,  by  the  Rev. 
George  Gilfillan.   British  Poets.   Edinburgh.   (Nichol.) 
Footnotes.  Another  issue  in  1878,  in  Cassell's  Library. 

1856.  Poems  of  Sh.,  with  Memoir  by  A.  Dyce,  and  a  few  corrections 

[etc.].   Boston.   (Little,  Brown  &  Co.) 

A  revision  of  the  Aldine  edition,  made  by  F.  J.  Child.  Other 
issues  in  1864,  etc. 

1857.  Works  of  Sh.,  edited  by  A.  Dyce.   (Moxon.) 

Sonnets  in  volume  6.  Textual  notes.  Other  editions  in  1866 
and  1875. 

1858.  Poems  of  Sh.   (C.  Little.) 


ii]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  495 

i860.  Works  of  W.  Sh.,  edited  by  H.  Staunton.   (Routledge.) 

Sonnets  in  volume  4;  introduction  and  footnotes.  Another 
issue  in  1864. 

1864.  Works  of  Sh.   Edited,  with  a  scrupulous  revision  of  the  text,  by 
Charles  and  Mary  Cowden  Clarke.    (Bickers.) 

1864.  Works  of  W.  Sh.    Edited  by  W.  G.  Clark  and  W.  A.  Wright. 

Globe  edition.    (Macmillan.) 

Text  based  on  that  of  the  (still  unfinished)  Cambridge  edition, 
but  not  identical  with  it.   Other  issues  in  1865,  etc. 

1865.  Plays  and  Poems  of  W.  Sh.    Edited  by  Thos.  Keightley.    (Bell 

&  Daldy.) 

A  newly  revised  text. 

1865.  Works  of  W.  Sh the  text  formed  from  a  new  collation  of 

the  early  editions,  etc.    [Folio;   1853-65.]    J.   O.   Halliwell. 
(Printed  for  the  editor.) 

Sonnets  in  volume  16;  introduction  and  notes. 

1865.  Songs  and  Sonnets  by  W.  Sh.    [Edited  by  F.  T.   Palgrave.] 
(Macmillan.) 

Various  subsequent  issues;  later  called  the  Golden  Treasury 
edition.  Introduction,  notes,  and  new  titles  for  the  Sonnets;  a 
few  omitted. 

1865.  Sh.'s  Works.    Edited  by  R.  G.  White.    Boston.    (Little,  Brown 

&Co.) 

Sonnets  in  volume  1 ;  introduction  and  notes.  A  revised  edition 
(Riverside  Sh.)  in  1883. 

1866.  Works  of  W.  Sh.   [1863-66.]   Edited  by  W.  G.  Clark  and  W.  A. 

Wright.   Cambridge  edition.     (Macmillan.) 

Sonnets  in  volume  9.  Textual  notes.  Revised  edition,  edited 
by  Wright  only,  in  1891-93. 

1877.  The  Leopold  Sh.   (Cassell.) 

The  Delius  text;  introduction  by  F.  J.  Turnivall,  treating  of  the 
Sonnets  in  §  II. 

1885.  Sh.'s  Poems,  1640.   (A.  R.  Smith.) 

The  only  modern  reprint  of  the  1640  text;  "printed  letter  for 
letter,  line  for  line,  and  page  for  page,  as  near  the  original  as 
modern  type  will  permit"  (but  with  some  errors). 

1885.  Songs,  Poems,  and  Sonnets  of  Sh.  With  introduction  by  William 
Sharp.   Newcastle.    (Walter  Scott.) 

Introduction  and  notes.  Issued  (in  the  Canterbury  Poets)  from 
London  in  1888  and  thereafter. 

1889.  Poems  and  Sonnets  of  W.  Sh.   Chiswick  Series.   (Bell.) 

1890.  Works  of  W.  Sh.  Edited  by  Henry  Irving  and  Frank  A.  Marshall. 

The  Henry  Irving  Sh.     (Blackie.) 

Sonnets  in  volume  8.   Introduction  and  notes  by  A.  W.  Verity. 


496  BIBLIOGRAPHY  [n 

1891.  Works  of  Sh.   Edited  by  W.  J.  Craig.   Oxford  Edition.   Oxford. 
(Clarendon  Press.) 
Another  issue  in  1902. 

1893.  Poems  of  W.  Sh.,  printed  after  the  original  copies.    [Edited  by 
F.  S.  Ellis.]    (Kelmscott  Press.) 

The  1609  text,  with  some  emendations  and  modern  punctua- 
tion. 

1898.  Poems  of  Sh.   Edited  with  an  Introduction  and  Notes  by  George 
Wyndham.-  (Methuen.) 

1898.  Sonnets  and  Poems  by  W.  Sh.    Pocket  Falstaff  edition  [of  the 

Works].    (Sands.) 

1899.  Poems  of  W.  Sh.,  according  to  the  text  of  the  original  copies.  .  .  . 

Collated  by  F.  S.  Ellis,  and  printed  at  the  Essex  House  Press. 
The  1609  text,  with  some  emendations  and  modern  punctuation. 

1900.  Works  of  Sh.    Edited  by  C.   H.   Herford.    Eversley  edition. 

(Macmillan.) 

Sonnets  in  volume  10.    Introduction  and  footnotes. 
1903.  Poems  and  Sonnets  of  Sh.,  with  an  introduction  by  E.  Dowden. 
(Kegan  Paul.) 

In  part  the  same  introduction  as  that  in  Dowden's  edition  of 
the  Sonnets  (see  I,  1881). 

[1904.]  Poems  and  Songs  of  Sh.   Newnes'  Pocket  Classics. 
1905.  Sonnets  and  Poems  by  W.  Sh.,  with  bibliographical  introduction 
by  H.  Bennett.   Carlton  Classics.    (Long.) 

1905.  Sonnets   and    Poems   by   W.    Sh.     Waistcoat  Pocket  edition. 

(Treherne.) 

1906.  Poems.    Edited  by  E.  K.  Chambers.    Red  Letter  Shakespeare. 

(Blackie.) 

Sonnets  in  volume  2 ;  introduction  and  footnotes. 

1906.  Sh.'s  Complete  Works.    Edited  by  W.  A.  Neilson.    The  Cam- 

bridge Poets.   Boston.    (Houghton  Mifflin.) 
New  text,  and  brief  introduction  to  the  Sonnets. 

1907.  Works  of  W.  Sh.    Stratford  Town  edition.   Stratford-on-Avon. 

(Printed  for  A.  H.  Bullen  and  F.  Sidgwick.) 

Sonnets  in  volume  10;  essay  on  them  (pp.  363-72)  by  H.  C. 
Beeching. 

[1908.]  W.  Sh.,  Poems,  Songs,  and  Sonnets.   (Sisley.) 

Biography  by  C.  Mortemart;  footnotes. 
[1908.]  Complete  Works  of  W.  Sh.    Sidney  Lee,  General  Editor.   The 
Renaissance  Sh.    (Harrap.) 

Sonnets  in  volume  38,  with  introduction  by  John  Davidson 
and  notes  by  Lee.  This  edition  has  also  appeared  under  various 
other  names  and  imprints,  as  the  Caxton  and  (in  the  U.S.)  the 
Harper. 


in]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  497 

[191  i.J  Sonnets  and  Poems.   Edited  by  H.  N.  Hudson.  The  Era  Sh. 
Introduction  and  footnotes  from  the  Hudson  Sh. 

1912.  Sonnets  and  Minor  Poems  by  Sh.   Edited  by  Charlotte  Porter. 
The  First  Folio  Sh.    New  York.    (Crowell.) 

A  scrupulous  reprint  of  the  quarto  text  of  1609;  introduction 
and  notes. 

III.  TRANSLATIONS 
(a)  German 

1820.  Sh.'s  Sonette,  ubersetzt  von  Karl  Lachmann.   Berlin. 

[Certain  of  the  Sonnets  were  translated  by  Tieck  in  1826;  see 
under  V,  1826.] 

1827.  W.  Sh.'s  sammtliche  Gedichte.   E.  V.  Bauernfeld  und  A.  Schu- 
macher.  (Sonette,  ubersetzt  von  A.  Schumacher.)   Wien. 

1836.  Sh.-Almanach.   Herausgegeben  von  Gottlob  Regis.   I.   W.  Sh.'s 
Lyrische  Gedichte.   Sonnette  &c.   Berlin. 

Introduction  and  notes;  the  former  chiefly  from  Drake  (see 
VI,  1817). 

1840.  W.  Sh.'s  sammtliche  Gedichte,   ubersetzt  von  Emil  Wagner. 
(With  W.  Sh.'s  sammtliche  dramatische  Werke,  A.  W.  von 
Schlegel  und  Tieck.)   Konigsberg. 
Introduction. 
1840.  Nachtrage  zu  Sh.'s  Werken  von  Schlegel  und  Tieck.  Uebersetzt 
von  Ernst  Ortlepp.   Stuttgart. 
Sonnets  in  volume  3. 

1 86 1.  Sh.'s  Gedichte.   Deutsch  von  Wilhelm  Jordan.   Berlin. 

Introduction  and  a  few  notes;  the  Sonnets  divided  into  five 
"books." 

1862.  W.  Sh.'s  Sonette  in  deutscher  Nachbildung.    F.  Bodenstedt. 

Berlin. 

Introduction,  notes,  and  appendix.  A  new  arrangement.  Later 
editions  in  1866,  etc. 

1867.  Sh.'s  Gedichte.   Deutsch  von  Karl  Simrock.   Stuttgart. 

Preface. 
1867.  Sh.'s  Sonette,  ubersetzt  von  F.  A.  Gelbcke. 

Introduction,  following  Massey  (see  IV,  1866);  the  Sonnets 
rearranged  accordingly.  The  translation  reappeared  in  volume  10 
of  Sh.  in  deutscher  Uebersetzung,  Bibliothek  auslandischer  Klas- 
siker,  Hildburghausen,  187 1. 

1869.  Sh.'s  Sonette.     Uebersetzt  von   Herm.   Freiherr  von   Friesen. 

Dresden. 

1870.  Sh.'s  Sonette,  Deutsch  von  Bruno  Tschischwitz.   Halle. 

Introduction  and  a  few  notes. 


498  BIBLIOGRAPHY  [in 

[1870.]  Sh.'s  kleinere  Dichtungen,  Deutsch  von  Alex.  Neidhardt.   (Clas- 
siker  des  In-  und  Auslandes.)   Berlin. 

Introduction  and  footnotes.    Another  edition,  Leipzig,  1902. 

1 87 1.  Sh.'s  Sonette,  iibersetzt  von  Otto  Gildemeister.   Leipzig. 

Introduction  and  notes,  developing  Delius's  fiction  theory.  A 
second  edition  in  1876.     • 

1872.  Sh.'s  Sou thampton-Sonette.  Deutsch  von  Fritz  Krauss.  Leipzig. 

Sonnets  1-126,  arranged  according  to  Massey's  interpretation, 
after  correspondence  between  him  and  the  translator;  introduc- 
tion and  notes  also  based  largely  on  Massey. 

[Certain  of  the  Sonnets  were  translated  by  F.  A.  Leo,  Gedichte, 
Berlin,  1872,  p.  226.] 

1875.  Probe  einer  Uebersetzung  Shakespearscher  Sonette.    Dr.  Gutt- 
mann.   Hirschberg.    (Gymnasium  Programm.) 
31  sonnets  translated. 
[1894.]  Gedichte  von  W.  Sh.,  in's  Deutsche  iibertragen  durch  Alfred 
von  Mauntz.   Berlin. 

Introduction  and  notes;  a  new  arrangement  of  the  Sonnets. 
*I903.  Sh.'s  Sonette,  iibersetzt  von  M.  J.  Wolff.   Berlin. 

Introduction,  etc.;  reviewed  in  Jahrbuch,  40:  295. 

*I909.  Sh.'s    Sonette;    Umdichtung    von    Stephan    George.     Berlin. 
[Jahrbuch,  46:  266.] 

*I909.  Sh.'s  Sonette,  iibertragen  von  Eduard  Saenger.   Leipzig.   [Jahr- 
buch, 46:  266.] 

*i9io.  Die  schonsten  Sonette  von  W.  Sh.  Uebersetzt  und  erlautert  von 
A.  Baltzer.  Wismar. 

Reviewed  in  Archiv  fur  den  neueren  Sprachen,  124:  217. 

1913.  Sh.'s  Sonette,  erlautert  von  Alois  Brandl,  iibersetzt  von  Ludwig 
Fulda.   Stuttgart  &  Berlin. 
Introduction. 

(b)  French 

1836.  Poemes  et  Sonnets  de  W.  -Sh.,  traduits  en  vers,  avec  le  texte 
anglais.   E.  Lafond.   Paris. 

Forty-eight  selected  sonnets.  Another  edition  in  1856. 

1857.  Les  Sonnets  de  W.  Sh.,  traduits  pour  la  premiere  fois  en  entier, 
par  F.  Victor  Hugo.   Paris. 

Prose  translation.  Introduction  and  notes;  a  new  arrangement 
of  the  Sonnets.  The  translation  was  included  in  Hugo's  Oeuvres 
Completes  de  Sh.,  1859-66. 

1860-62.  Oeuvres  Completes  de  Sh.   F.  Guizot.   Paris. 
Prose  translation. 


in]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  499 

1873.  Oeuvres  Completes  de  Sh.,  traduites  par  Emile  Montegut.  Paris. 
Prose  translation. 

1888.  Les  Sonnets  de  Sh.,  traduits  en  vers  francais,  par  Alfred  Copin. 
Paris. 

Introduction;  Sonnets  rearranged  in  six  parts. 
1 89 1.  W.  Sh.,  son  Poeme,  les  Sonnets.  Traduit  par  Louis  Direy.   Pov- 
erty Bay,  New  Zealand.    [The  Phoenix  and  the  Turtle  also 
included.] 
Preface. 

1900.  Les  Sonnets  de  Sh.,  traduits  en  sonnets  francais,  avec  Introduc- 
tion, Notes,  et  Bibliographic   Fernand  Henry.   Paris. 
English  text  given  also.   A  fairly  full  bibliography. 

1906-07.  Les  Sonnets  de  Sh.   Essai  d'une  Interpretation  en  vers  frangais. 
C.  M.  Gamier.    Cahiers  de  la  Quinzaine,  Paris,  Dec.  23,  1906 
and  March  31,  1907. 
Sonnets  1-152. 

(c)  Italian 

1890.  I  Sonetti  di  W.  Sh.   Tradotti  per  la  prima  volta  in  Italiano,  da 
Angelo  Olivieri.   Palermo. 

Prose  translation;  introduction  and  notes. 

1898.  I  154  Sonetti  di  G.  Sh.    Tradotti  in  Sonetti  Italiani  da  Ettore 
Sanfelice.  Velletri. 
Introduction. 

1909.  G.  Sh.,  I  Sonetti.   Traduzione  italiana,  con  introduzione  e  noti  di 
Lucifero  Darchini.   Milano. 
Prose  translation. 

(d)  Swedish 

[1871.]  W.  Sh.  Sonetter,  pa  svenska  atergifna  af  Carl  Rupert  Nyblom. 
Upsala. 

Introduction  and  notes. 

(e)  Danish 

1885.  Sh.  Sonetter,  oversatte  af  Adolf  Hansen.    Med  Indledning  og 
Anmaerkninger.   Copenhagen. 
Introduction  and  notes. 

(/)  Dutch 

1879.  Sh.  Sonetten,  vertaald  door  Dr.  L.  A.  J.  Burgersdijk.   Utrecht. 
Introduction  and  notes;  a  new  arrangement. 


500  BIBLIOGRAPHY  [iv 

(g)  Spanish 

*i877.  Obras  de  W.  Sh.,  traducidas  fielmente  del  original  ingles,  por  D. 
Matias  de  Velasco  y  Rojas,  Marques  de  Dos  Hermanas. 
[Volume  I :]  Poemas  y  Sonetos.   Madrid. 

Prose  translation,  with  "Estudio  sobre  los  sonetos"  and  notes; 
see  Jahrbuch,  14:  393. 

(h)  Russian 

*i88o.  [W.  Sh.'s  collected  Sonnets,  translated  by  Nicolai  Gerbel.  St. 
Petersburg.]   [Jahrbuch,  16:  472.] 

[Twenty  of  the  Sonnets  are  to  be  found  translated  into  Polish, 
in  Poeci  Angielscy,  by  J.  Kasprowicz,  Lemberg,  1907.] 

(i)  Hungarian 

*[I9°9-1  Sh.  Szonettjeibol.  Forditotta.  Zoltan  Vilmos.  Budapest. 
[Jahrbuch,  46:  369.] 

(J)  Latin 

1913.  Gulielmi  Sh.  Carmina  quae  Sonnets  nuncupantur  Latine  reddita 
ab  Alvredo  Thoma  Barton;  edenda  curavit  J.  Harrower. 

IV.   BOOKS  AND   MONOGRAPHS 

1837.  J.  Boaden :  On  the  Sonnets  of  Sh.,  identifying  the  person  to  whom 

they  are  addressed,  and  elucidating  several  points  in  the  poet's 
history. 

62  pp.;  a  revision  of  the  articles  in  The  Gentleman's  Magazine 
(see  V,  1832). 

1838.  C.  A.  Brown:  Sh.'s  Autobiographical  Poems.   Being  his  Sonnets 
s^  clearly  developed  [etc.]. 

Groups  the  Sonnets  in  six  "Poems." 
i860.  D.  Barnstorff:  Schliissel  zu  Sh.'s  Sonetten.   Bremen. 

Translated  by  T.  J.  Graham,  as  "A  Key  to  Sh.'s  Sonnets," 
1862.   Esoteric. 

1862.  Bolton  Corney:  The  Sonnets  of  Sh.;  a  critical  disquisition. 

16  pp.;  based  on  Chasles's  "discovery"  regarding  the  Dedica- 
tion (see  pp.  6-7). 

1865.  [E.  A.Hitchcock:]  Remarks  on  the  Sonnets  of  Sh.,  showing  that 

they  belong  to  the  hermetic  class  of  writings,  and  explaining 
their  general  meaning  and  purpose.    New  York. 
Esoteric.  An  enlarged  edition  in  1867. 

1866.  Gerald  Massey:  Sh.'s  Sonnets  never  before  Interpreted. 

Enlarged  from  an  article  in  the  Quarterly  Review  (see  V,  1864); 
on  the  "dramatic"  theory  of  the  Sonnets,  according  to  which 


iv]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  501 

many  of  them   were  written   on   behalf  of  Southampton   and 
Elizabeth  Vernon.   An  enlarged  edition  in  1872. 

1868.  R.  Simpson:  Introduction  to  the  Philosophy  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets. 

An  essay  on  Sh.'s  use  of  the  platonic  and  neo-platonic  doctrine 
of  love.   First  printed  in  The  Chronicle. 

1870.  Henry  Brown:  The  Sonnets  of  Sh.  Solved,  and  the  mystery  of 
his  friendship,  love,  and  rivalry  revealed. 

Views  a  large  portion  of  the  Sonnets  as  satires  on  the  sonnet 
fashion;  groups  them  in  57  sections. 

1872.  C.  M.  Ingleby:  The  Soule  Arayed;  a  letter  to  Howard  Staunton, 
Esq.,  concerning  Sh.'s  Sonnet  146. 

16  pp.    Reprinted  in  the  author's  volume,  Sh.,  the  Man  and  the 
Book,  1877. 

1877.  E.  Lichtenberger:  De  Carminibus  Shaksperi,  cum  nova  Thor- 
pianae  Inscriptioni  Interpretatione.   Paris. 

A  thesis;  with  special  reference  to  the  Dedication. 
1888.  Gerald  Massey:  The  Secret  Drama  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets. 

Further  development  of  his  theory  (see  under  1866),  with  replies 
to  critics. 

1890.  L.  Direy:  William  Sh.,  his  poem,  sonnets  and  dedication.     Pov- 
erty Bay,  New  Zealand. 

18  pp.;  esoteric. 

1891.  L.  de  Marchi:  I  Sonetti  di  Sh.  Milan. 
An  essay,  including  translations  of  eleven  of  the  Sonnets. 

1892.  "Clelia"  [C.  Downing]:  Great  Pan  Lives!  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  20-126. 
Esoteric. 

1897.  E.  J.  Dunning:  The  Genesis  of  Sh.'s  Art;  a  Study  of  his  Sonnets 
and  Poems.   Boston. 

Esoteric.  An  Appendix  on  the  use  of  "you "  and  "  thou "  in  the 
Sonnets. 

1897.  E.  Freiherr  von  Danckelmann:  Sh.  in  seinen  Sonetten.   Leipzig. 
23  pp.;  discusses  the  man-friendship  as  of  an  ideal,  platonic 

character. 

1898.  T.  Tyler:  The  Herbert-Fitton  Theory  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets;  a  Reply. 
23  pp. ;  a  defence  of  the  Pembroke  theory  in  reply  to  critics. 

1899.  Cuming  Walters:  The  Mystery  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets. 
Views  the  sonnets  as  studies  of  the  themes  of    the  dramas, 

partially  personal  but  largely  allegorical. 

1899.  J-  Johnson:  The  Testimony  of  the  Sonnets  as  to  the  Authorship 
of  the  Shakespearean  Plays  and  Poems.   New  York. 

-""        Views  the  sonnets  as  studies  of  an  older  man  than  Sh. 

1900.  Parke  Godwin:  A  New  Study  of  the  Sonnets  of  Sh.  New  York. 
Esoteric. 


502  BIBLIOGRAPHY  [iv 

1902.  Jean    I.    O'Flanagan:    Sh.'s    Self-Revelation    in    his    Sonnets. 

Stratford-on-Avon. 
38  pp. 

1903.  Arthur  Acheson:  Sh.  and  the  Rival  Poet. 

Devoted  chiefly  to  the  identification  of  the  "rival  poet"  as 
Chapman. 

1903.  T.  Eichhoff:  Unser  Sh.:  .  .  .  II:  (1)  Sh.'s  Sonette  und  ihr  Wert; 

(2)  Die  Sonettensatire.   Halle. 

Views  the  Sonnets  as  constituting  a  miscellany  by  many 
authors,  relatively  valueless. 

1904.  J.  M.:  Sh.  Self-Revealed  in  his  Sonnets  and  Phoenix  and  Turtle. 

Esoteric.  Followed  [no  date]  by  a  pamphlet  of  4  pp.,  called 
"A  Recantation,"  in  which  each  of  the  36  italicised  words  in  the 
1609  Quarto  is  treated  as  a  symbol  of  one  of  the  Shakespearean 
plays. 

[1904.]  E.  A.  Jackson:  A  Consideration  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets. 

16  pp. 

1909.  Anna  B.  MacMahan:  Sh.'s  Love  Story.   Chicago. 

The  principal  Sonnets  interpreted  as  addressed  to  Anne 
Hathaway. 

George  H.  Palmer:  Intimations  of  Immortality  in  the  Sonnets  of 
Sh.   Boston. 

Views  the  Sonnets  as  concerned  with  various  types  of  immor- 
tality, with  S.  146  as  the  climax. 

R.  M.  Garrett:  Materials  for  the  Study  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets.  Seattle. 

A  syllabus  for  the  use  of  students  at  the  University  of  Wash- 
ington. 

1913.  Arthur  Acheson:  Mistress  Davenant,  the  Dark  Lady  of  Sh.'s 
Sonnets.    . 

Further  develops  the  author's  work  of  1903,  identifying  the 
"dark  lady"  as  Mistress  Jane  Davenant  of  Oxford. 

[1913.]  A.  Acheson:  A  Woman  Coloured  111. 

16  pages.   Supplemental  to  the  preceding  item. 

*I9I3.  P.  Rodder:  Sh.'s  Sonette  im  Lichte  der  neueren  Forschungen. 
Konigsberg. 

Programm-Dissertation. 
1913.  Countess  de  Chambrun  [Clara  Longworth  de  Chambrun]:  The 
Sonnets  of  W.  Sh. ;  New  Light  and  Old  Evidence.   New  York. 
Follows  Acheson  in  the  Mistress  Davenant  theory. 
1915.  Sydney  Kent:  The  People  in  Sh.'s  Sonnets. 

General  and  conjectural;  favors  a  very  early  date;  identifies 
W.  H.  as  Southampton  and  the  Dark  Lady  as  one  (hypothetical) 
Alice  Bird. 


v]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  503 

V.  ARTICLES  IN  SERIALS 
[Book  reviews  are  not  included,  except  when  of  independent  interest.] 

1818.  "Proh  Pudor!":  On  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Blackwood's  Magazine,  3: 
585. 

Appreciative  criticism,  with  an  attack  on  Hazlitt. 
*i826.  L.  Tieck:  Ueber  Sh.'s  Sonette  einige  Worte,  nebst  Proben  einer 
Uebersetzung  derselben.    Penelope   Taschenbuch,  Leipzig,  p. 

See  Goedeke's  Grundriss,  6:  40;  §  284,  1,  84. 
1832.  J.  B[oaden]:  To  what  Person  the  Sonnets  of  Sh.  were  actually 
addressed.   Gentleman's  Magazine,  102:  216,  308. 

The  first  exposition  of  the  Pembroke  theory.  The  prior  "dis- 
covery" of  this  solution  was  announced  by  B.  H.  Bright  in  the 
October  number  of  the  Magazine  (p.  296).  Boaden's  articles  were 
issued  in  a  reprint  (see  IV,  1837). 

1834.  Armand  Morlaix  [pseud,  for  A.  F.  L.  de  Wailly]:  Les  Sonnets  de 

Sh.  Revue  des  deux  Mondes,  3d  ser.,  4:  679. 
1834.  D«  L.  Richardson:  Sh.'s  Sonnets:  on  their  poetical  merits,  and  on 
the  question  of  to  whom  are  they  addressed.  Literary  Gazette, 
Calcutta,  April  5. 

Reprinted  in  the  author's  Literary  Leaves,  Calcutta,  1836. 
1847.   [H.  W.  Barrett:]  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  American  Review,  6:  304. 
General  biographic  interpretation. 

1857.  Anon.:  The  Sonnets  of  Sh.  Westminster  Review,  68:  116. 

Discussion  of  the  autobiographical  elements  as  related  to 
poetic  beauty. 

1859.  J.  G.  R.:  [On  S.  107  and  Southampton],  Notes  &  Queries,  2d  s., 
7:  125. 

1861.  D.  Asher:  [Review  of  Barnstorff's  work  (see  IV,  i860)],  Magazin 

fiir  Literatur  des  Auslandes,  30:  476. 

Reviews  also  the  general  literature  of  the  subject. 

1862.  P.  Chasles:  Hints  for  the  Elucidation  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Athe- 

nceum,  Jan.  25,  p.  116. 

A  new  interpretation  of  the  Dedication  (see  p.  6).  Comment 
by  R.  Cartwright  followed  in  the  number  for  Feb.  1,  p.  155. 

1862.  B.  Corney:  M.  Philarete  Chasles,  Notes  &  Queries,  3d  s.,  1:  87. 
Applies  Chasles's  view  of  the  Dedication  to  the  Southampton 
theory. 
1862.  B.  Corney:  The  Sonnets  of  Sh.,  Notes  &  Queries,  3d  s.,  1:  162. 

Discusses  date,  relation  to  Southampton,  etc. 
1862.  J.  A.  Heraud:  A  New  View  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Temple  Bar,  5:  53. 
Esoteric.   Reprinted  as  appendix  to  the  author's  Sh.,  his  Inner 
Life  as  Intimated  in  his  Works,  1865. 


504  BIBLIOGRAPHY  [v 

1862.  [W.  R.  Alger:]  Sh.'s  Sonnets  and  Friendship,  Christian  Examiner, 
Boston,  73:  209,  403. 

Argument  for  the  Pembroke  theory. 

1864.  F.  Kreyssig:  Sh.'s  lyrische  Gedichte  und  ihre  neuesten  Bear- 
beiter,  Preussische  Jahrbiicher,  13:  484;  14:  91. 

A  review  of  the  Jordan  and  Bodenstedt  translations;  discusses 
the  biographical  element  in  the  Sonnets  and  Sh.'s  morality. 

1864.  [G.  Massey:]  Sh.  and  his  Sonnets,  Quarterly  Review,  115:  431. 

Develops  the  writer's  "dramatic"  theory  (see  IV,  1866). 

1865.  N.  Delius:  Ueber  Sh.'s  Sonette,  Jahrbuch,  1:  18. 

Presents  the  "fiction"  theory. 

1865.  W.  C.  Hazlitt:  Sh.'s  Sonnets;  Mr.  W.  H.,  Notes  &  Queries,  3d  s., 

8:449. 

Identifies  W.  H.  as  William  Hammond;  a  reply  by  B.  Corney, 
p.  482. 

1866.  R.  Bell:  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Fortnightly  Review,  5:  734. 

A  review  of  Massey's  book  (IV,  1866);  discusses  Southampton 
and  Pembroke  theories. 

1867.  P.  Chasles:  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Athenaeum,  Feb.  16,  p.  223. 

Abandons  Pembroke  theory  for  William  Hathaway.  In  the 
number  for  Feb.  23  (p.  254)  S.  Neil  calls  attention  to  his  earlier 
proposal  of  the  same  theory  in  his  biography  of  Sh.  (see  VI, 
1861).   Chasles  rejoins  in  the  number  for  March  9,  p.  323. 

1867.  G.  Massey:  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  AthencBum,  Mar.  16,  p.  355. 
On  the  meaning  of  "begetter." 

1867.  P.  Chasles:  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Athenaeum,  Apr.  13,  p.  486. 

Further  defence  of  his  view  of  the  Dedication,  with  reply  to 
Massey.  Rejoinders  follow  by  Massey  and  Neil  in  the  number 
for  Apr.  27,  p.  551;  the  latter  summarizing  all  the  conjectures 
regarding  Mr.  W.  H.  A  final  reply  by  Chasles  in  the  number  for 
May  18,  p.  662. 

1869.  B.  Nicholson:  Sh.'s  77th  Sonnet,  Notes  &  Queries,  4th  s.,  3:  166. 
1869.  H.  Freiherr  von  Friesen:  Ueber  Sh.'s  Sonette,  Jahrbuch,  4:  94. 
Opposes  the  Pembroke  theory,  and  the  views  of  Massey  and 
Delius;  discusses  the  relation  of  the  Sonnets  to  Sh.'s  morality. 

*i87i.  Anon.:   Sh.'s  Sonette  und  die  deutschen  Uebersetzer,  Magazin 
fur  die  Literatur  des  Auslandes,  No.  73.   [Jahrbuch,  8:  393.] 
1873.  [Report  of  a  paper  by  C.  M.  Ingleby,  before  the  Royal  Society  of 
Literature,]  Athenceum,  July  5,  p.  18. 

Favors  Brae's  theory  that  W.  H.  is  a  misprint  for  W.  S.  Reply 
by  S.  N.  (Neil?)  in  the  number  for  Aug.  2,  p.  147. 

1873.  C.  E.  Browne:  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  an  Old  Theory,  Athenceum,  Aug. 
30,  p.  277. 

On  the  "  Hews"  of  S.  20  and  persons  of  that  name.  A  note  from 
Ingleby  follows  on  p.  306,  and  a  further  note  by  Browne  on  p.  335. 


v]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  505 

1873.  C.  Edmonds:  A  Shakspearean  Discovery,  Athenceum,  Oct.  25, 

p.  528,  and  Nov.  22,  p.  661. 

On  a  certain  W.  H.    Replies  by  C.  E.  Browne  on  pp.  563,  771. 
x873~74.  H.  Staunton:  Unsuspected  Corruptions  of  Sh.'s  Text,  Athenceum, 
Dec.  3,  p.  731 ;  Jan.  3,  p.  20;  Jan.  31,  p.  160;  Mar.  14,  p.  357. 
Various  emendations. 

1874.  Jabez:  A  Sh.  Myth  Exploded,  Notes  &  Queries,  5th  s.,  1:  80. 

On  the  inference  from  Sonnets  37  and  89  that  Sh.  was  lame. 
1875.,  F.  G.  Fleay :  The  Motive  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets:  a  defence  of  his  Moral- 
ity, Macmillan 's  Magazine,  31 :  433. 

Sonnets  1-126  interpreted  as  a  poem  in  defence  of  Sh.'s  pro- 
fession. 

— '    1875.  F.  J.  Furnivall:  Sonnet,  146,  2,  Academy,  Sept.  11,  p.  282. 
An  emendation. 
1876.  F.  J.  F[urnivall]:  The  W.  H.  or  Will  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets, 
Queries,  5th  s.,  5:  443. 

Gives  a  list  of  persons  named  Hews  or  Hughes. 

1875.  K.  Hillard:  On  the  Study  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Lippincott's  Maga- 

zine, 15:  497. 

Reviews  the  controversy,  developing  the  auJxfDiographic  inter- 
pretation. / 

1875.  Speriend:  Sh.'s  Lameness,  Notes  6r  Queries,' 5th  s.,  3:  134. 

A  reply  to  "Jabez"   (see  under  1874  above),  who  replies  on 
p.  278;  a  further  note  by  "Speriend,"  p.  497. 

1875.  K.  Elze:  Sh.'s  Character,  seine  Welt-  und  Lebensanschauung, 

Jahrbuch,  10:  75. 

The  Sonnets  discussed  (pp.  81-90)  on  the  lines  followed  in  the 
writer's  book  (see  under  VI,  1876). 

1876.  R.  H.  Legis:  Identification  of  Michael  Drayton  with  the  Rival 

Poet  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Notes  &  Queries,  5th  s.,  6:  163. 
1876.  E.  D.  Stone:  Sh.'s  18th  Sonnet,  Notes  &  Queries,  5th  s.,  5:  463. 
A  Latin  translation  of  the  sonnet. 

1876.  R.  H.  Legis:  Thorpe's  Prefix  to  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Notes  £f  Queries, 

5th  s.,  6:  421. 

An  esoteric  interpretation  of  the  Dedication. 

1877.  J-  W.  Hales:  From  Stratford  to  London,  Cornhill  Magazine,  35: 

69. 

Incidental  consideration  of  Sh.'s  allusions  to  his  journeys. 

td.  1877.  R.  H.  Legis:  Sonnet  86,  Notes  cV  Queries,  5th  s.,  7:  244. 

On  Drayton  and  the  Polyolbion  in  relation  to  the  Sonnets. 
— » 1877.  R.  H.  Legis:  The  126th  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Notes  &*  Queries,  5th  s., 
7:  261. 

Esoteric  interpretation  of  this  sonnet  and  the  series  generally. 
Reply  by  R.  M.  Spence,  p.  324. 


506  BIBLIOGRAPHY  [v 

*   1877.  Jabez:  Sonnet  86,  Notes  &  Queries,  5th  s.,  7:  283. 

On  the  reading  filled:  filed.  Rejoinder  by  Legis  on  p.  384,  and 
again  by  "Jabez  "  on  p.  465. 

1877.  K.  Godeke:  Ueber  die  Sonette  Sh.'s,  Deutsche  Rundschau,  10:  386. 
Views  the  collection  as  a  medley,  addressed  to  various  persons. 

1877.  A.  E.  Brae:  Sh.'s  Sonnet  116,  Lippincott's  Magazine,  19:  761. 

1878.  W.  Hertzberg:  Eine  griechische  Quelle  zu  Sh.'s  Sonetten,  Jahr- 

buch,  13:  158. 

On  the  source  of  Sonnets  153-54. 
1878.  T.  A.  Spalding:  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Gentleman's  Magazine,  242:  300. 
Sonnets  1-126  discussed  as  the  story  of  a  friendship. 

1878.  G.  Tirinelli:  I  Sonetti  di  Sh.,  Nuova  Antologia,  2d  ser.,  8:  228. 

General  discussion  of  the  biographical  problem. 

1878-79.  H.   Isaac:    Zu    den  Sonetten    Sh.'s,  Archiv   fiir   den   neueren 
Sprachen,  59:  155,  241;  60:  33;  61:  177,  393562:  1,  129. 

A  commentary  on  those  sonnets  which  the  writer  views  as 
dealing  with  love;  Bodenstedt's  order  followed. 

^Y*    1879.  Bibliothecary:  The  Crux  of  Sonnet  116,  Notes  &  Queries,  5th  s., 
12:  24. 

On  the  meaning  of  "hight."  Replies  by  B.  Nicholson  and 
"B.  C,"  on  p.  250  of  6th  s.,  vol.  1. 

1879.  L.  A.  J.  Burgersdijk:  Zu  Sonett  121,  Jahrbuch,  14:  363. 

1879.  F.  Krauss:  Sh.  und  seine  Sonette,  Nord  und  Siid,  8:  226. 

Follows  Massey's  theory. 

1880.  T.  Tyler:  The  Date  of  Sh.'s  55th  Sonnet,  Athenaum,  Sept.  11, 

P-  337- 
1880.  A.  C.  Swinburne:  Short  Notes  on  English  Poets,   Fortnightly 
Review,  34:  708. 

Reviews  YV.  M.  Rossetti's  criticism  (see  VI,  1878);  replies  to 
Browning's  objection  to  the  autobiographical  theory.  Reprinted 
in  the  writer's  Miscellanies,  1886. 

1880.  S.  S.  Travers:  Sh.'s  Sonnets:  to  whom  were  they  addressed? 
Victorian  Review,  December. 

Interprets  the  sonnets  as  addressed  to  an  illegitimate  son  of 
Sh.   Reprinted  as  a  pamphlet,  Tasmania,  1881. 

1880.  Anon.:  A  Talk  about  Sonnets,  Blackwood's  Magazine,  128: 159. 

Sh.'s  Sonnets  discussed,  pp.  163-67. 
1880.  C.  E.  Browne:  The  Play  upon  "You"  and  "Hews"  in  the  Son- 
nets, and  its  relation  to  the  Herberts,  Notes  &  Queries,  6th  s., 
1:  210. 

On  Herbert's  title  of  Lord  Fitzhugh. 
1880.  F.  J.  Furnivall:  An  Early  MS.  Copy  of  Sh.'s  8th  Sonnet,  Academy, 
Dec.  24,  p.  462. 
On  Add.  MS.  15226. 


kkr 


».* 


v]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  507 

1 88 1.  F.  Krauss:  DieschwarzeSchonederSh.-Sonette,  Jahrbuch,  16: 144. 
Develops  Massey's  interpretation  of  the  later  sonnets  as  con- 
cerned with  Pembroke  and  Lady  Rich. 

1881.  E.  Stengel:  Bilden  dieersten  126  Sonette  Sh.'s  einenSonettcyclus, 

und   welches   ist   die   ursprungliche   Reihenfolge   derselben? 
Englische  Studien,  4:  1. 

1882.  H.  Isaac:  Wie  weit  geht  die  Abhangigkeit  Sh.'s  von  Daniel  als 

Lyriker?  Jahrbuch,  17:  165. 

1883.  B.  Nicholson :  Sonnet  1 13  and  The  Phoenix  and  Turtle,  A thenceum, 

Feb.  3,  p.  150. 

The  same  note  (on  the  interpretation  of  line  14)  contributed  to 
Notes  &  Queries,  6th  s.,  7:  464. 

1883.  J.  Crosby:  The  Crux  in  Sonnet  126,  Literary  World,  14:  64. 

1884.  J.  H.  Browne:  Sh.'s  Sonnets  in  a  New  Light,  Manhattan,  3:  145. 
A  favorable  account  of  Massey's  theory. 

1884.  C.  Mackay :  A  Tangled  Skein  Unraveled,  Nineteenth  Century,  16: 
238. 

The  Sonnets  divided  into  six  groups;  some  viewed  as  the  work  of 
Marlowe,  Pembroke,  and  others. 

1884.  H.  Isaac:  Sh.'s  Selbstbekenntnisse,  Preussische  Jahrbucher,  54: 

237,  313. 

Further  develops  the  writer's  views  of  1878-79  and  of  the 
Jahrbuch  article  (see  preceding  item);  Sh.'s  spiritual  biography 
outlined  from  the  Sonnets;  arguments  for  Spenser  and  Marlowe 
as  rival  poets. 

1884.  [W.  J.  Rolfe :]  NewTheories  of  the  Sonnets,  Shake speariana,  1 :  29 1 . 
An   account   of    the    recent   articles   in   Blackwood's   and   of 
Mackay 's  in  the  Nineteenth  Century. 

1884.  H.  Isaac:  Die  Sonett-Periode  in  Sh.'s  Leben,  Jahrbuch,  19: 176. 
Classifies  the  Sonnets  according  to  themes,  and  considers  the 
probable  dates  on  the  basis  of  parallels  with  the  plays. 

1884.  T.  Tyler:  The  Imprisonment  of  Lord  Pembroke  in  1601,  Academy, 

March  22,  p.  204. 

Pembroke  in  relation  to  certain  of  the  Sonnets. 
1884.  T.  Tyler:  Sh.  and  Lords  Pembroke  and  Southampton,  Academy, 

Apr.  19,  p.  280. 
1884.  W.  A.  Harrison:  The  Dark  Lady  and  Mistress  Mary  Fitton, 

Academy,  July  5  and  12,  pp.  9,  30. 
1884.  T.  Tyler:  Mrs.  Fytton  and  Rosaline  in  Love's  Labour's  Lost, 

Academy,  July  19,  p.  47. 
1884.  W.  E.  A.  Axon:  Mrs.  Mary  Fitton,  Academy,  July  26,  p.  62. 
1884.  A.  Hall:  A  Literary  Craze,  Notes  fif  Queries,  6th  s.,  10:  21,  61, 

101,  181. 

Primarily  a  reply  to  the  first  of  the  Blackwood  articles  on  Sh. 

and  Dante  (see  following  item);  discusses  Elizabethan  dedica- 
tions, and  proposes  Nash  as  the  rival  poet. 


508  BIBLIOGRAPHY  [v 

1884-86.  Anon.:  New  Views  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets:  the  Other  Poet  Identified, 
Blackwood's  Magazine,  135:  727;  137:  774;  139:  327. 

Proposes  Dante  as  the  "rival  poet";  discusses  Sh.'s  medieval 
sources. 

1885.  T.  Tyler:  Sh.  and  Lord  Pembroke,  Academy,  June  20,  p.  438. 
1885.  W.  A.  Harrison:  Die  "dunkle  Dame"  in  Sh.'s  Sonetten  und 
Mrs.  Mary  Fitton,  Jahrbuch,  20:  327. 

The  same  matter  as  in  Harrison's  Academy  letters  of  1884. 

1885.  J.  G.  B.:  "Looks"  or  "Books"  in  Sonnet  23,  Shakespeariana, 
2:495. 

1885.  A.  Morgan:  Much  Ado  about  Sonnets,  Catholic  World,  42:  212. 

General  discussion,  emphasizing  the  uneven  merit  of  the  Son- 
nets, and  distrusting  all  biographic  interpretations.  Reprinted 
in  the  writer's  Sh.  in  Fact  and  in  Criticism,  1888. 

1886.  E.  Dowden:  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Academy,  Jan.  30,  p.  67. 

A  review  of  Tyler's  introduction  to  the  Praetorius  facsimile. 

1886.  Anon.:  [Review  of  the   Praetorius  Facsimile  Quarto  and  the 

Canterbury  Edition  of  the  Sonnets,]  Athenceum,  Feb.  20,  p. 

257- 

Discusses  the  autobiographical  problem,  and  the  Fitton  theory. 

1887.  T.  Bayne:  Sonnet  66,  Notes  fir  Queries,  7th  s.,  4:  304. 

Proposes  an  emendation  of  "disabled."  Discussed  by  D.  C.  T., 
C.  B.  M.,  and  R.  F.  Gardiner,  p.  405,  and  by  B.  Nicholson,  5:  61. 

1887.  G.  Garrigues:  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Journal  of  Speculative  Philosophy, 

21:  241. 
Esoteric. 

1888.  T.  Tyler:  Mrs.  Mary  Fitton  and  Sh.'s  152nd  Sonnet,  Academy, 

Dec.  15,  p.  388. 
1 888.  F.  A.  Leo:  Hilfsmittel  bei  Untersuchungen  uber  Sh.'s  Sonette, 
Jahrbuch,  23:  304. 

Gives  a  classification  of  the  Sonnets  and  an  index  of  topics. 

1888.  Horace  Davis:  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Overland  Monthly,  San  Francisco, 

n.s.,  11:  248. 

Interprets  the  Sonnets  in  connection  with  the  plays. 

1889.  W.  J.  Rolfe:  The  Sonnets,  Shakespeariana,  6:  97. 

General;  the  same  matter  as  in  the  author's  edition  of  the  Son- 
nets arid  Life  of  Sh. 

1889.  E.  H.  Plumptre:  Sh.'s  Travels,  Somerset  and  Elsewhere,  Con- 
temporary Review,  55 :  584. 

On  Sonnets  153-154,  as  evidence  that  Sh.  had  been  at  Bath; 
with  discussion  of  the  alleged  connection  of  the  Sonnets  with 
Willobie  his  Avisa. 

1889.  T.  Tyler:  Sh.  and  Marston  in  1598,  Academy,  May  4,  p.  306. 
On  Sonnet  32,  line  12. 


v]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  509 

1889.  Anon.:  Sh.'s  Sonnets  and  Mary  Fitton,  Academy,  Oct.  5,  p.  220. 
1889.  T.  Tyler:  Mary  Fitton  and  the  Dictionary  of  National  Biogra- 
phy, Athenceum,  Oct.  19,  p.  531. 
1889.  T.  W.  Norwood:  Mary  Fitton,  Athenceum,  Nov.  9,  p.  643. 
1889.  B.  N[icholson]:  Was  Sh.  Lame?  Notes  &  Queries,  7th  s.,  8:  454. 

In  reply  to  a  query  by  W.  Blood  (p.  367). 
1889.  C.  W.  Franklyn:  William  Sh.,  Gentleman,  Westminster  Review, 
132:348. 

Doubts  the  Shakspearean  authorship  of  the  Sonnets. 

1889.  Oscar  Wilde:  The  Portrait  of  Mr.  W.  H.,  Blackwood's  Magazine, 

146:  1. 

Fancifully  develops  a  theory  that  W.  H.  was  Willie  Hughes, 
a  boy  actor;  incidentally  opposes  both  the  Southampton  and  Pem- 
broke theories,  and  favors  Marlowe  as  the  rival  poet.  Reprinted 
in  London  (n.d.)  and  in  Portland,  Maine  (Mosher,  1901). 

1890.  W.  Underhill:  Mr.  W.  H.;  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Notes  &  Queries,  7th 

s.,  9:  227,  302. 

Proposes  to  read  "To  Mr.  W.  Hall  happiness"  in  the  Dedica- 
tion; discusses  the  Hall  family  of  Worcestershire.  Comment, 
p.  303,  by  W.  T.  Lynn,  C.  A.  Ward,  and  A.  Hall. 

1890.  T.  Tyler:  The  Dedication  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Academy,  June  14, 
p.  408. 

On  the  Dedication  and  the  Pembroke  theory. 
1890.  C.  C.  Stopes:  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  "W.  H,"  and  the  Dark  Lady,  Poet 
Lore,  2:  460. 

A  review  of  Tyler's  edition;  opposes  the  Pembroke  and  Chap- 
man theories. 

1890.  Dr.  Sachs:  Sh.'s  Gedichte,  Jahrbuch,  25:  132. 

Sonnets  discussed,  pp.  148-67;  general  review  and  bibliography. 
1890.  C.  C.  Stopes:  [Review  of  Tyler's  edition  of  the  Sonnets,]  Jahrbuch, 

25:  185. 

Identifies  W.  H.  as  William  Hunnis;  this  theory  withdrawn  in 
a  contribution  to  the  Jahrbuch,  27 :  200. 

1890.  G.  Chiarini:  II  Matrimonio  e  gli  Amori  di  Guglielmo  Sh.,  Nuova 

Antologia,  3d  s.,  26:  5,  438;  27:  112. 

Also  issued  separately.   In  general  favors  the  Pembroke-Fitton 
theory. 
**»~i89i.  B.  Nicholson:  Sonnet  77,  10,  Notes  &  Queries,  7th  s.,  11 :  24. 

1 89 1.  F.  J.  Furnivall:  Mary  Fitton  Again,  Academy,  March  21,  p.  282. 

Further  discussion  by  Furnivall,  pp.  325  and  370;  replies  by 
Tyler,  pp.  304,  346,  395- 
1 891.  W.  J.  Rolfe:  The  Mr.  Wr.  H.  of  the  Sonnets,  Critic,  n.s.,  16:  334. 

On  a  portrait  of  Pembroke. 
1891.  [Report  of  a  paper  by  Tyler,  on  "The  Latest  Objections  to  the 
Herbert-Fitton  Theory  of  the  Sonnets,"   before   the   New 


5io  ^^-BIBLIOGRAPHY 

:espeare  Society,  meeting  of  Dec.  nj  Academy,  Dec.  19, 

P-  567- 
B.  Nicholson:  Sonnet  146,  2,  Notes  &  Queries,  7th  s.,  11 :  364. 

Reply  by  C.  C.  B.  in  12:  423. 
B.  Nicholson :  Was  Mr.  W.  H.  the  Earl  of  Pembroke?  Athenceum, 
July  11,  p.  74. 
1891.  I.  Goodlet:  A  New  Word  on  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Poet  Lore,  3:  505. 

Emphasizes  the  relationship  of  the  Sonnets  to  Two  Gentlemen 
of  Verona. 

1891.  S.  Arnaud:  Les  Sonnets  de  Sh.,  Nouvelle  Revue,  71:  537. 

Discusses  Southampton  theory;  several  sonnets  translated. 

1892.  C.  G.  O.  Bridgeman:  The  Fitton  Portraits  at  Arbury,  Academy, 

Jan.  9,  p.  40. 

A  reply  by  Tyler,  issue  of  Jan.  16,  p.  66. 

m ^       1892.  B.  Nicholson:  Sonnet  100,  9,  Notes  ef  Queries,  8th  s.,  2:  5. 

On  the  meaning  of  resty.    Further  discussion  by  Tyler  and 
E.  S.  A.  on  p.  283,  and  by  C.  C.  B.  in  4:  444. 

1892.  R.  Shindler:  The  Stolen  Key,  Gentleman's  Magazine,  272:  70. 

Argues  the  want  of  authenticity  and  continuity  of  the  quarto 
^  of  1609. 

T  1893.  E.  B.  Brownlow:  Sonnet  126,  Notes  &  Queries,  8th  s.,  3:  103. 

On  the  text  of  line  2;  discussed  by  C.  C.  B.  on  p.  285. 

1893.  A.  von  Mauntz:  Sh.'s  Lyrische  Gedichte,  Jahrbuch,  28:  274. 

In  part  follows  up  Massey's  theory. 

1893.  Horace  Davis:  The  Comparison  of  Hair  to  Wires  in  Sonnet  130, 

Critic,  n.s.,  19:  419. 

1894.  W.  J.  Rolfe:  Sh.'s  Sonnets  set  to  Music,  Critic,  n.s.,  21 :  238. 

1894.  L.  W.  Spring:  The  Friendship  of  Sh.  with  Mr.  W.  H.  and  the 

Dark  Lady,  Education,  14:  599. 

1895.  G.  Sarrazin:  Die  Entstehung  von  Sh.'s  Verlorener  Liebesmiihe, 

Jahrbuch,  31:  200. 

Discusses  the  date  of  the  Sonnets;  opposes  the  Pembroke 
theory. 

1895.  H.  Conrad:  Sh.  und  die  Essex-Familie,  Preussische  Jahrbiicher, 
79:  183. 

The  possible  identification  of  the  friend  of  the  Sonnets  with 
Essex  discussed,  pp.  184-90. 

1895.  W.  J.  Rolfe:  Something  New  on  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Critic,  n.s.,  24: 
152. 

A  theory  proposed  in  George  Paston's  novel,  A  Study  in  Prej- 
udices. 

*i8g6.  J.   Caro:  Ueber  Sh.'s  Sonette,  Berichte  des  freien  deutschen 
Hochstiftes  zu  Frankfort  a.  M.,  n.s.,  12:  1.   [Jahrb.,  33:  370.] 


4 


v]  BIBLIOGRAPHY 


i 


1896.  R.  M.  Spence:  The  Sonnets;  the  two  Obeli  in  the  Globe  edition, 
Notes  £f  Queries,  8th  s.,  10: 450. 

On  60,  13  and  146,  2.  Discussed  by  €.  C.  B.  and  Sherborne, 
11:223,  343. 

1896.  G.  Sarrazin:  Zur  Chronologie  von  Sh.'s  Dichtungen,  Jahrb 

32:  149.  / 

Discusses  parallelisms  of  style  as  indications  of  date.      / 

1897.  G.  A.  Leigh:  The  Rival  Poet  in  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Westminster 'Review, 

147:  173-  / 

Tasso  proposed  as  the  rival  poet. 

1897.  F.  J.  Furnivall:  Sh.  and  Mary  Fitton,  The  Theatre,  Dec.  1. 

1897.  William  Archer:  Sh.'s  Sonnets:  the  case  against  Southampton, 
Fortnightly  Review,  n.s.,  62:  817. 

Sums  up  the  evidence  for  the  Pembroke  theory. 

1897.  T.  Tyler:  "Mr.  W.  H."  and  the  "D.  N.  B.,"  Academy,  July  24, 
p.  78. 

On  Lee's  abandonment  of  the  Pembroke  theory.  Further  dis- 
cussion by  E.  K.  Chambers,  in  the  issues  of  July  31  (p.  98)  and 
Aug.  14  (p.  138),  and  by  Tyler  and  A.  Hall  in  that  of  Aug.  7 
(pp.  1 17-18). 

1897.  A.  Hall:  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Academy,  Sept.  11,  p.  207. 

On  Lady  Penelope  Devereux  as  the  Dark  Lady. 
1897.  Anon.:  The  Dark  Lady  Unveiled,  Academy,  Oct.  30,  p.  341. 

On  the  Fitton  theory  and  Lady  Newdigate-Newdegate's  Gos- 
sip from  a  Muniment  Room. 

1897.  J.  Vaughan:  An  "Ancient  Market  Towne,"  Temple  Bar,  no: 
109. 

Sketches  the  Southampton- Vernon  romance  in  accordance  with 
Massey's  theory  of  the  Sonnets. 

1897.  A.  von  Mauntz:  Einige  Glossen  zu  Sh.'s  Sonett  121,  Anglia, 

19:  291. 

1898.  Sidney  Lee:  Sh.  and  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  Fortnightly  Review, 

n.s.,  63:  210. 

A  reply  to  Archer;  the  substance  included  in  the  writer's  Life 
ofSh. 

1898.  J.  Churton  Collins:  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Saturday  Review,  85:  285. 

Opposes  both  the  Southampton  and  Pembroke  theories.  Re- 
printed in  the  writer's  Ephemera  Critica. 

1898.  C.  C.  Stopes:  The  Date  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Athenaum,  Mar.  19  and 
26,  pp.  374,  405. 

Develops  the  Southampton  theory;  proposes  William  Harvey 
as  W.  H. 

1898.  G.  Sarrazin:  Wortechos  bei  Sh.  (II),  Jahrbuch,  34:  119. 
List  for  the  Sonnets  on  pp.  162-63. 


512  BIBLIOGRAPHY  [v 

898.  G.  Sarrazin:  Zu  Sonett  104,  Jahrbuch,  34:  368. 

On  the  date  of  this  sonnet,  and,  in  consequence,  of  the  series. 
898.  J.  M.  S.:  The  Life  of  Sh.,  Spectator,  Dec.  3,  p.  830. 

On  a  parallel  in  the  correspondence  of  St.  Evremond  (see  p.  109). 
898.  Samuel  Butler:  Sh.'s  Sonnets  and  the  Ireland  Forgeries,  Athe- 
nceum,  Dec.  24,  p.  907. 

On  the  meaning  of  "begetter"  (see  p.  10). 
898.  Anon.:  A  German  Mare's  Nest,  Academy,  Jan.  15,  p.  79. 

A  critique  of  Sarrazin's  Sh.'s  Lehrjahre. 
898.  T.  Tyler:  Dr.  Brandes  and  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Academy,  Jan.  22, 
p.  105. 
On  the  Pembroke  theory. 
898.  Sidney  Lee:  Sh.  and  the  Earl  of  Southampton,  Cornhill  Magazine, 
77:482. 
Substantially  included  in  the  writer's  Life  of  Sh. 
[898.  Samuel  Butler:  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Athenceum,  July  30,  p.  161. 
Outlines  the  argument  for  an  early  date. 
►8.  Sylvanus  Urban :  [Notes  on  Wyndham's  edition  of  the  Poems,  the 
Pembroke  theory,  etc.,  in  "Table  Talk,"]  Gentleman' s  Maga- 
zine, 285:  102. 
18.  Sylvanus  Urban:  A  Sh.  Mystery  Solved,  [etc.,  in  "Table  Talk,"] 
Gentleman's  Magazine,  285:  617. 
On  Lee's  view  of  the  Dedication. 
1898-99.  Cuming  Walters:  The  Mystery  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  New  Century 
Review,  4:  440;  5:  89,  207. 

Reappeared  in  book  form,  with  the  same  title  (see  under  IV, 
1899). 

1899.  Cuming  Walters:  Sh.'s  Sonnets  as  Clues  to  the  Dramas,  New 
Century  Review,  6:  261. 

Supplemental  to  the  writer's  book  (see  under  IV,  1899);  em- 
phasizes the  relation  of  the  Sonnets  to  L.  L.  L.,  T.  G.  V.,  and 

M.  N.  D. 

1899.  A.  Ainger:  The  Only  Begetter  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Athenceum,  Jan. 
14  and  28,  pp.  59,  121. 

Supports  Lee's  interpretation  of  the  Dedication. 
1899.  H.  C.  Beeching:  The  Sonnets  of  Michael  Drayton,  Literature, 
5:  181. 

Discusses  the  relation  of  Drayton's  sonnets  and  Sh.'s.  Reprinted 
as  an  appendix  to  the  writer's  edition  of  the  Sonnets  (see  I,  1904). 

1899.  Cuming  Walters:  [Letters  to  the  editor,]  Literature,  4:  585,  642. 

In  reply  to  a  review  of  the  writer's  book  (see  IV,  1899),  with 
special  reference  to  the  Pembroke  theory. 


v]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  513 

1899.  J.  W.  Bright:  Two  Notelets  on  Sh.,  Modern  Language  Notes,  14: 
186. 
—  Includes  an  interpretation  of  Sonnet  I,  14. 

1899.  W.  J.  Rolfe:  [A  reply  to  Sidney  Lee's  account  of  the  Sonnets,] 
Critic,  35:  737- 

.  W.  L.  Rush  ton:  Sonnet  146,  Notes  6f  Queries,  9th  s.,  4:  142. 
An  emendation. 

1900.  F.  A.  White:  Mr.  W.  H.  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  New  Century  Review, 
•  7:  228. 

Identifies  "W.  H."  of  the  Dedication  as  William  Hathaway 
and  the  youth  of  the  sonnets  as  his  son. 

1900.  A.  Hall:  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Print  1609,  Notes  &  Queries,  9th  s 
248. 

Regards  S.  126  as  written  in  1609  to  authenticate  the  spinet 
series.   A  reply  by  C.  E.  H.,  p.  435. 

•1900.  F.  Henry:  [Note  on  Lee's  theory  of  the  Dedication,]  Literature, 
6:  320. 

In  opposition  to  the  identification  of  W.  H.  with  William  Hall 
the  stationer.    Reported  in  Jahrbuch,  37:  287. 

1900.  Y.  Y.:  Sh.'s  Sonnets  in  French,  Bookman  (N.Y.),  12:  132. 

Review  of  Henry's  translation  (see  under  Illb,  1900),  with  argu- 
ment against  the  autobiographical  theories.  The  same  matter  in 
The  Bookman  of  London,  18:  13,  with  the  title,  "Are  Sh.'s  Son- 
nets Autobiographical?" 

1900.  Sidney  Lee:  Beget  and  Begetter  in  Elizabethan  English,  Athe- 
nozum,  Feb.  24,  p.  250. 

Replies  by  Dowden  and  Butler  in  the  numbers  for  March  10 
and  24,  pp.  315,  379;  further  discussion  by  Ainger,  March  17,  p. 
346,  and  by  Lee,  March  17,  p.  345.    (See  pp.  11-12  above.) 

1900.  C.  F.  McClumpha:  Parallels  between  Sh.'s  Sonnets  and  Love's 

Labour  's  Lost,  Modern  Language  Notes,  15:  188. 
1900.  C.  C.  Stopes:  "Mr.  W.  H.,"  Athenaum,  Aug.  4,  p.  154. 
Further  consideration  of  William  Harvey. 

1900.  R.  Garnett:  The  Date  of  the  Sonnets,  Literature,  6:  211. 
On  the  date  of  Sonnet  66;  reported  in  Jahrbuch,  37:  285.   Reply 

by  T.  L.  M.  Douse,  p.  229. 

1901.  C.  F.  McClumpha:  Parallels  between  Sh.'s  Sonnets  and  A  Mid- 
summer Night's  Dream,  Modern  Language  Notes,  16:  164. 

1 901 .  A.  Filon :  Les  Sonnets  de  Sh.,  Revue  des  deux  Mondes,  ser.  5,  2 :  795. 

Develops  the  biographic  interpretation. 
1901.  [C.   Creighton:]  Sh.  and  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  Blackwood's 
Magazine,  169:  668,  829. 

Maintains  that  Sh.  himself  published  the  Sonnets;  interprets 
the  italic  type  of  the  Quarto  as  significant;  views  Daniel  as  the 
rival  poet.  Substantially  included  in  the  writer's  Sh.'s  Story  of 
his  Life,  1904. 


5H 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


[v 


1902. 

♦1902. 
1902. 
1902. 

1902. 

1903. 
1903. 

1904. 


1904. 
1904. 


*I907. 


H.  C.  Beeching:  The  Sonnets  of  Sh.,  Cornhill  Magazine,  n.s.,  12: 
244. 

Substantially  embodied  in  the  author's  edition  of  the  Sonnets 
(see  I,  1904). 

E.  Reichel:  Das  Portrat  des  herrn  W.  H.,  Die  Gegenwart,  62: 
250. 

[Jahrbuch,  39:  397.] 
W.  E.  Ormsby :  Sh.'s  76th  Sonnet,  Notes  &  Queries,  9th  s.,10: 125. 

On  the  phrase  "noted  weed"  and  the  Baconians.  A  consider- 
able discussion  followed,  in  vols.  11  and  12. 

W.  A.  Henderson:  Sh.  in  the  Sonnets,  Notes  &  Queries,  9th  s., 
10:343. 

Views  Edmund  Sh.  as  the  person  chiefly  addressed  in  the 
Sonnets. 

M.  H.  L[iddell]:  Sh.'s  Sonnets  in  MS.,  Nation,  New  York,  75:  10. 

Describes  a  MS.  in  a  Dobell  catalogue;  see  p.  23  above. 
J.  D.  Butler :  World  without  End,  Notes  &  Queries,  9th  s.,  1 1 :  448. 

On  the  phrase  in  Sonnet  57. 
G.  Stronach:  Sh.'s  Sonnets:  a  new  Theory,  Notes  &  Queries,  9th 
s.,  12:  141,  273. 

Views  the  collection  as  a  miscellany  by  various  writers,  includ- 
ing Barnes.  Replies  by  H.  Ingleby  and  "Ne  Quid  Nimis,"  pp. 
210-n. 

R.  F.  Towndrow:  Canker-Blooms  and  Canker,  Athenceum,  July 
23,  p.  123;  Aug.  6,  p.  188. 

On  "canker-blooms"  in  Sonnet  54;  opposed  by  G.  Birdwood 
in  the  numbers  for  July  30  and  Aug.  13,  pp.  156,  219. 

E.  D.  Sftone]:  Sh.'s  Sonnet  146,  Notes  Sf  Queries,  10th  s.,  1 :  204. 

A  Latin  translation. 
T.  L.  M.  Douse:  Sh.'s  Sonnet  26,  Notes  &  Queries,  10th  s.,  2:  133. 
C.  F.  McClumpha:  Sh.'s  Sonnets  and  Romeo  &  Juliet,  Jahrbuch, 

40:  187. 
P.  Tausig:  Zu  Sh.'s  Sonetten  153  und  154,  Jahrbuch,  40:  231. 
P.  E.  .More:  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Evening  Post,  New  York,  August  6. 
iscusses  Sh.'s  personality  in  the  Sonnets.    Reprinted  in  the 
writer's  Shelburne  Essays,  2d  Series,  1906. 

Klein:  Foreign  Influence  on  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Sewanee  Review, 

I3U54^ 

On  the  platonic  influences,  those  of  the  Pleiade,  etc. 
L.  L.  Schiicking:  Die  Widmung  der  Sonette  Sh.'s,  Frankfurter 
Zeitung,  March  26. 

Interprets  the  Dedication  as  meaning  that  Thorpe  wishes  Wil- 
liam Hall  the  eternity  which  Sh.  promises  (  =  may  be  expected)  to 
attain.   Reported  in  Jahrbuch,  44:  292. 


v]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  515 

♦1907.  R.  von  Kralik:  Sh.  Studien,  Die  Kultur,  8:  385. 

Discusses  the  Dedication  (believing  W.  H.  a  misprint  for  W.  S.) 
and  the  autobiographical  element  in  the  Sonnets.  Reported  in 
Jahrbuch,  44:  292,  295-96. 

1908.  M.  J.  Wolff:  Sh.  im  Buchhandel  seiner  Zeit,  Jahrbuch,  44:  126. 
Discusses  Thorpe  and  the  Quarto  of  1609,  p.  135. 

1908.  H.  Pemberton,  Jr.:  The  Sonnets,  New  Shakespeareana,  7:  105. 
(S3  On  Sonnet  107. 

1909.  H.  Pemberton,  Jr.:  Topical  Allusions  in  the  Sonnets,  and  the 

Identity  of  the  Person  to  whom  the  Sonnets  were  addressed, 
New  Shakespeareana,  8:  61. 
On  Sonnets  125,  153,  154;  supports  the  Pembroke  theory. 
1909.  H.  W.  Mabie:  Sonnets  of  Sh.,  Outlook,  92:  1025. 

Introduction  to  a  reprint  of  five  sonnets. 
1909.  D.  J.:  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  their  Dedication,  Notes  &  Queries,  10th 
s.,  12:  265. 
On  another  dedication  of  Thorpe's. 

1909.  Sidney  Lee:  Ovid  and  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Quarterly  Review,  210:  455. 
*i9io.  B.  Badt:  Erlebnis  und  Dichtung  in  Sh.'s  Sonetten,  Der  Zeitgeist, 

Jan.  10. 

Platonism  in  the  Sonnets.   Reported  in  Jahrbuch,  47:  270. 

1910.  E.  S.  Bates:   The  Sincerity  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Modern  Philology, 

8:87. 
1910.  S.  B.  Hemingway:  Sonnet  8  and  Mr.  William  Hughes,  Musician, 
Modern  Language  Notes,  25:  210. 
*i9io.  K.  Bleibtreu:  [Note  in]  Die  Gegenwart,  75:  395. 
On  Sonnet  11 1;  reported  in  Jahrbuch,  46:  215. 
-     1910.  JE.  A.  Kock:  Three  Shaksperian  Passages  Explained,  Anglia, 
3i:  133. 

Includes  a  note  on  Sonnet  30,  4. 

1910.  B.  Holland:  The  "Dark  Lady"  to  Mr.  W.  Sh.,  National  Review, 
56:  260. 

Eleven  sonnets,  imagined  as  sent  in  reply  to  Sh.'s. 

1910.  K.  Groos  &  I.  Netto:  Psychologisch-statistische  Untersuchungen 

uber  die  visuellen   Sinneseindrucke  in  Sh.'s  lyrischen   und 
epischen  Dichtungen,  Englische  Studien,  43:  27. 

Statistics  on  the  color-images  in  the  Sonnets,  pp.  32-38. 
*i9io.  F.  Gundolf:  Sh.'s  Sonette,  Die  Zukunft,  No.  41,  p.  65.  [Jahrb., 

47:  39o] 

191 1.  G.  Bernard  Shaw:  The  Dark  Lady  of  the   Sonnets,  Red  Book 

Magazine,  16:  421. 

A  one-act  play,  based  on  the  Fitton  theory. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  [v 


^J 


ise  I.  Guiney:  Sh.  and  "  Warray,"  Notes  Gf  Queries,  nth  s. 
4:84. 

On  Sonnet  146,  2.  A  reply  by  C.  C.  B.,  p.  243. 

191 1.  M.  J.  Wolff:  Zu  den  Sonetten,  Jahrbuch,  47:  191. 

On  an  Italian  version  of  the  source  of  Sonnets  153-54. 

1911.  A.   Piatt:   Edward   III   and  Sh.'s  Sonnets,   Modern  Language 

Review,  6:  511. 

On  the  alleged  priority  of  Sonnets  94  and  142  to  the  play. 

1912.  C.  C.  B.:  Sh.'s  Sonnets:  the  Rival  Poet,  Notes  &  Queries,  nth  s., 

5:  190. 

Favors  Marlowe. 
1912.  W.  B.  Brown :  The  Text  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets  125-126,  Notes &1  Queries, 
nth  s.f  6:  446. 

Replies  by  C.  C.  B.,  7:  32,  153;  by  "Tom  Jones,"  7:  32;  further 
discussion  by  W.  B.  Brown,  7:  76,  236. 

1912.  J.  E.  G.  de  Montmorency:  The  Mystery  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Con- 
temporary Review,  101 :  737. 
Esoteric. 

1912.  J.  E.  G.  de  Montmorency:  The  "Other  Poet"  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets, 

Contemporary  Review,  101 :  885. 
Argument  for  Spenser. 

1913.  W.  B.  Brown:  The  Mr.  W.  H.  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Notes  &  Queries, 

nth  s.,  7:  241,  262. 

On  the  Hews  of  Sonnet  20. 
1913.  W.  M.  Blatt:  A  New  Light  on  the  Sonnets,  Modern  Philology, 

11:  135. 

Views  the  Sonnets  as  written  by  Sh.  as  a  hired  spokesman. 

1913.  C.  C.  Stopes:  An  Early  Variant  of  a  Sh.  Sonnet,  Athenaum,  July 
26,  p.  89. 

A  MS.  variant  of  Sonnet  2.  Other  variants  of  the  same  sonnet 
described  by  B.  Dobell,  Aug.  2,  p.  112,  and  by  H.  T.  Price,  Sept. 
6,  p.  230  (see  pp.  21-22  above). 

1913.  W.  B.  Brown:  Buds  of  Marjoram,  Notes  &  Queries,  nth  s.,  8: 
169. 

On  Sonnet  99,  7.  Further  discussion  by  A.  R.  Bayley,  p.  213, 
and  by  C.  C.  B.,  p.  237. 

1913.  S.  von  Hegedus :  [Article  in]  Ungarischen  Rundschau  fur  historische 
und  soziale  Wissenschaften,  2 :  586. 

On  a  Latin  medium  for  the  Greek  source  of  Sonnets  153,  154; 
reported  in  Jahrbuch,  50:  153. 

1913.  Clara  L.  de  Chambrun:  The  Inspirers  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  North 
American  Review,  198:  131. 

On  the  Mistress  Davenant  theory. 


v]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  517 

1913.  A.  von  Berzeviczy:  Die  Sonette  Michelangelos  und  Sh.'s,  Pester 

Lloyd,  Dec.  9. 

A  comparison  of  the  two  collections;  reported  in  Jahrbuch,  51: 
251. 

1914.  J.  Q.  Adams,  Jr.:  Two  Notes  on  Hamlet,  Modern  Language 

Notes,  29:  1. 

Includes  a  note  on  "eisel"  in  S.  III. 

1914.  G.  Sarrazin:  Sh.'s  Sonette,  Internationale  Monatsschrift,  8:  1071. 

General;  develops  the  Southampton  theory,  and  discusses  the 
date  of  the  Sonnets. 

1914.  S.  A.  Tannenbaum:  The  Heart  of  Sh.'s  Mystery,   The  Dial, 
Chicago,  56:494- 

Review  of  books  by  Acheson  and  the  Countess  of  Chambrun 
(see  IV,  1913). 

1914.  G.  C.  Moore  Smith:  Sonnets,  51,  Lines  iof.,  Modern  Language 
Review,  9:  372. 

1914.  Judge  Evans:  Venus  &  Adonis  and  the  earlier  Sonnets  of  Sh., 

Saturday  Review,  Dec.  26,  p.  647. 
On  Sonnets  1-17. 

1915.  R.  M.  Alden:  [Review  of  books  by  Acheson  and  the  Countess 

of  Chambrun,]  Journal  of  English  and  Germanic  Philology, 
14:449. 

Discussion  of  the  alleged  relation  of  the  Sonnets  to  Willobie 
his  Avisa  (see  pp.  480-81). 

1915.  H.  D.  Gray:  The  Arrangement  and  the  Date  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets. 
Publications  of  the  Modern  Language  Association,  n.s.,  23:  629. 

191 5.  E.   H.  Wilkins:  The  Enueg  in  Petrarch  and  in  Sh.,  Modern 

Philology,  13:  in. 

On  S.  66  as  an  example  of  the  enueg  form. 

191 6.  M.  J.  Wolff:  Petrarkismus  und  Antipetrarkismus  in  Sh.'s  Son- 

Tetten,  Englische  Studien,  49:  161. 

On  the  conventional  elements  in  the  Renaissance  sonnet  (see 
p.  459  above). 

1916.  R.  M.  Alden:  The  1640  Text  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  Modern  Philology, 
14:  17. 

A  proof  that  the  text  of  1640  was  made  from  that  of  1609  (see  p. 
422  above). 

191 6.  R.  M.  Alden:  The  1710  and  17 14  Texts  of  Sh.'s  Poems,  Modern 
Language  Notes,  31:  268. 

An  account  of  the  texts  which  may  be  attributed  to  Gildon  (see 
under  II,  1710). 


518  BIBLIOGRAPHY  [vi 

VI.  BOOKS  CONTAINING   INCIDENTAL  MATTER  ON   THE 

SONNETS    \_ 

J797-  [G.  Chalmers:]  An  Apology  for  the  Believers  in  the  Sh.  Papers 
which  were  exhibited  in  Norfolk  Street. 

Pp.  41-66;  proposes  the  view  that  the  Sonnets  were  addressed 
to  Queen  Elizabeth. 

1799.  G.  Chalmers:  A  Supplemental  Apology  for  the  Believers  in  the 
Sh.  Papers  [etc.]. 
Pp.  38-104. 

1809-11.  A.  W.  von  Schlegel:  Ueber  dramatische  Kunst  und  Literatur. 
Heidelberg. 

Passage  on  the  value  of  the  Sonnets  as  biographical  documents 
(Black  trans.,  ed.  1840,  2:  116). 

1815.  W.  Wordsworth:  Essay,  supplementary  to  the  Preface  to  the 
Lyrical  Ballads. 

Passage  on  the  literary  value  of  the  Sonnets  (Poems,  Globe  ed., 
p.  868). 

18 1 7.  Nathan  Drake:  Sh.  and  his  Times. 

The  earliest  argument  for  the  Southampton  theory  (2:  50-86). 
181 7.  S.  T.  Coleridge:  Biographia  Literaria. 

Remarks  on  the  Sonnets  in  chapters  2  and  15. 
1829.  Mrs.  [Anna  B.  M.]  Jameson:  Memoirs  of  the  Loves  of  the  Poets. 

Chapter  15  "On  the  Love  of  Sh.";  Southampton  theory  ac- 
cepted. 

1835.  S.  T.  Coleridge:  Table  Talk. 

Entry  for  May  14,  1833;  remarks  on  male  friendship. 
[1835.]  R.  F.  Housman:  A  Collection  of  English  Sonnets. 
26  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets  included,  with  notes. 

1837-39.  H.  Hallam:  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  Europe  in  the  15th, 
16th,  and  17th  Centuries. 

Sonnets  discussed,  vol.  3,  chap.  5,  §§  48-50. 

1839.  H.  Ulrici:  Ueber  Sh.'s  dramatische  Kunst.   Halle. 

Translated  by  Dora  Schmitz,  1846.  Views  of  Delius,  Neil,  and 
Massey  opposed  in  detail  (Bk.  2,  chaps.  3,  6;  Bohn  ed.,  1876,  1: 
206-17,  240-43). 

1845.  J.  Hunter:  New  Illustrations  of  the  Life,  Studies,  and  Writings 
ofSh. 

Discusses  the  relation  of  the  sonnets  on  marriage  to  Much  Ado 
about  Nothing  (1:  236-41). 

[1848?]  E.  J.  Delecluze:  Dante  Alighieri  ou  la  Poesie  Amoureuse.   Paris. 
On  the  resemblance  between  the  Vita  Nuova  and  Sh.'s  Sonnets 
(pp.  516-37). 


vi]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  519 

1849-50.  G.  G.  Gervinus:  Shakespeare.  Leipzig. 

Translated  by  F.  E.  Bunnett,  as  Sh.  Commentaries,  1863. 
Southampton  theory  followed,  and  Sh.'s  personality  discussed 
with  reference  to  the  Sonnets  (ed.  1883,  pp.  441-74). 

[1851.]  H.  K.  S.  Causton:  Essay  on  Mr.  Singer's  "Wormwood"  .  .  . 
and  a  reading  of  Sh.'s  Sonnet  III. 

Pamphlet;  on  the  meaning  of  the  word  "eisel." 
1857.  Henry  Reed:  Lectures  on  the  British  Poets.   Philadelphia. 

An  appended  essay  on  English  Sonnets  (2:  235)  contains  com- 
ments on  several  of  Sh.'s. 

1857.  [C.  Bathurst:]  Remarks  on  the  Differences  in  Sh.'s  Versification 

in  different  Periods  of  his  Life. 

Pp.  1 10-15,  on  the  date  of  the  Sonnets. 

1858.  F.  A.  T.  Kreyssig:  Vorlesungen  iiber  Shakespeare.   Berlin. 

Reviews  the  general  literature  of  the  subject  (2d  ed.,  1874, 
1:  114-23). 

1859.  John,  Lord  Campbell:  Sh.'s  Legal  Acquirements. 

Remarks  on  the  legal  metaphors  in  several  of  the  Sonnets. 
i860.  W.  S.  Walker:  Critical  Examination  of  the  Text  of  Sh.   Edited 
by  W.  N.  Lettsom. 

Grammatical  and  textual  comments,  passim. 

1 86 1.  S.  Neil:  Shakespeare,  a  Critical  Biography. 

Pp.  104-08;  W.  H.  identified  as  William  Hathaway. 
1863-64.  H.  A.  Taine:  Histoire  de  la  Litterature  Anglaise.   Paris. 

Bk.  2,  chap.  4,  §  1,  on  Sh.'s  personality  with  reference  to  the 
love-story  of  the  Sonnets. 

1864.  T.  Kenny:  The  Life  and  Genius  of  Shakespeare. 
The  male  friendship  discussed  (pp.  79-82). 
*l864.  A.  Bekk:  William  Sh.,  eine  biographische  Studie.   Munchen. 

Mentioned  by  Kreyssig  (see  V,  1863),  as  regarding  many  of 
the  Sonnets  as  addressed  to  Sh.'s  wife. 

1866.  [R.  H.  Shepherd:]  Tennysoniana. 

2d  ed.,  1879.  Chap.  4  on  "In  Memoriam  and  Sh.'s  Sonnets"; 
some  twenty  parallels  adduced. 

1866.  E.  W.  Sievers:  William  Sh.,  sein  Leben  und  Dichten.  Gotha. 

Pp.  90-110.  Discusses  the  relation  of  the  friendship  for  South- 
ampton to  Sh.'s  poetical  development. 

_     1867.   Leigh  Hunt  and  S.  A.  Lee:  The  Book  of  the  Sonnet. 

For  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  see  Hunt's  introductory  Essay  on  the  Son- 
net, 1 :  75-77»  and  notes  on  the  eight  selected  sonnets,  pp.  154-64. 

-     [1867.]  G.  Ross,  M.D.:  Studies,  Biographical  and  Literary. 

The  Sonnets  discussed  in  the  Essay  on  Sh.'s  Mad  Characters 
(pp.  51-54),  with  reference  to  the  alleged  resemblance  of  Hamlet 
and  Sh. 


\f 


520  BIBLIOGRAPHY  [vi 

y  I869. 


1869.  Carl  Karpf:  To  ti  en  einai:  die  Idee  Sh.'s  und  deren  Verwirk- 
lichung.   Hamburg. 

Esoteric;  the  Sonnets  in  their  relation  to  the  Aristotelian  phi- 


Sy  losophy  (pp.  29-124). 

/,         1869. 


E.  A.  Abbott :  A  Shakespearian  Grammar. 
2d  ed.,  1870.   Grammatical  notes,  passim. 
1872.  R.  Genee:  Sh.,  sein  Leben  und  seine  Werke.   Hildburghausen. 

Pp.  83-87.  Opposes  Delius. 
1874.  W.  Minto:  Characteristics  of  English  Poets  from  Chaucer  to 
Shirley. 

2d  ed.,  1885.  Chap.  5,  §  7;  Chapman  proposed  as  the  "rival 
poet." 

1874.  C.  M.  Ingleby:  Sh.'s  Centurie  of  Prayse;  being  materials  for  a 
history  of  opinion  on  Sh.  and  his  works. 

Reprinted  by  the  New  Sh.  Society,  1879.  Includes  a  passage 
from  Willobie  his  Avisa,  with  the  suggestion  that  it  has  to  do  with 
the  story  of  Sh.,  the  friend,  and  the  dark  lady. 

1874.  W.  C.  Hazlitt:  Prefaces,  Dedications,  Epistles. 

On  page  226  two  dedications  of  Thorpe's  are  discussed,  as  evi- 
dence against  the  identification  of  Pembroke  as  the  W.  H.  of  the 
Sonnets  Dedication. 

1874.  H.  von  Friesen:  Sh.-Studien.   I,  Altengland  und  W.  Sh.   Wien. 
Pp.  324-48.    Develops  the  autobiographical  theory. 

1874-75.  Alexander  Schmidt:  Shakespeare  Lexicon.   Berlin. 

1875.  E.  Dowden:  Shakspere,  a  Critical  Study  of  his  Mind  and  Art. 
Sonnets  discussed  in  chap.  8.   Other  issues  in  1876,  1880,  etc. 

1876.  Karl  Elze:  William  Sh.   Halle. 
Translated  by  Dora  Schmitz,  1888.    Discusses  friendship  as  a 

Renaissance   theme;   opposes  the   autobiographical  theory  (pp. 
369-80,  493-505;  translation,  pp.  320-29,  428-38). 

♦1877.  G.  S.  Caldwell:  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  the  Author  of  Sh.'s  Plays  and 
Sonnets.   Melbourne. 

Described  by  Dowden,  edition  of  the  Sonnets,  1881,  p.  102. 
1878.  W.  M.  Rossetti:  Lives  of  Famous  Poets. 

Pp.  50-56.   Discusses  the  male  friendship. 

1878.  J.  Bulloch:  Studies  on  the  Text  of  Sh.,  with  numerous  Emenda- 
tions. 

Pp.  280-95,  textual  notes;  and  Appendix,  pp.  306-10,  on  the 
Sonnets  and  Dedication. 

1879.  Justin  WTinsor:  Sh.'s  Poems;  a  Bibliography  of  the  Earlier  Edi- 
tions. Bibliographical  Contributions  of  the  Harvard  Uni- 
versity Library,  No.  2.   Cambridge,  Mass. 

l8§jef.  D.  M.  Main:  A. Treasury  of  English  Sonnets. 
Contains  57  of  Sh.'s,  with  notes. 


^^A 


s\ 


vi]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  521 

1882.  J.  O.  Halliwell-Phillipps:  Outlines  of  the  Life  of  Sh. 

Issued  in  smaller  form,  privately  printed,  in  1881;  issued  in 
successive  revised  editions  in  1883,  etc.  For  the  Sonnets,  see  in 
the  final  editions  (7th-ioth),  1:  173-76,  226;  2:  303-05. 

*i882.  F.  Krauss:  Sh.'s  Selbstbekenntnisse.  Weimar. 

Includes  an  elaboration  of  the  author's  commentary  on  the 
Sonnets;  see  under  Ilia,  1872.   Reviewed  in  Jahrbuch,  18:  248. 

1883.  B.  G.  Kinnear:  Cruces  Shakespearianae;  difficult  passages  in  the 

Works  of  Sh.  [etc.]. 

Various  emendations  (pp.  496-504). 
......  1883.  Mark  Pattison:  The  Sonnets  of  John  Milton  [edited]. 

The  Introduction  discusses  the  Shakespearean  sonnet  form. 

1884.  A  List  of  all  the  Songs  and  Passages  in  Sh.  which  have  been  set 

to  Music.    Compiled  by  J.  Greenhill,  Rev.  W.  A.  Harrison, 
and  F.  J.  Furnivall.  New  Shakspere  Society  Publications. 
For  the  Sonnets,  see  pp.  75-88. 
1886.  F.  G.  Fleay :  A  Chronicle  History  of  the  Life  and  Work  of  W.  Sh. 
Pp.  120-24;  161.   Discusses  the  alleged  relationship  of  the  Son- 
nets to  a  passage  in  Willobie  his  Avisa. 

1 89 1.  F.  G.  Fleay:  A  Biographical  Chronicle  of  the  English  Stage. 

" Excursus %n  Sh.'s  Sonnets,"  2:  208-32;  emphasizes  their  rela- 
tionship to  Drayton's  verse,  and  discusses  their  date. 

1894.  Barrett  Wendell :  William  Shakspere.   New  York. 
Pp.  221-37. 

—  1895.  Henry  Morley  and  W.  Hall  Griffin:  English  WViters,  vol.  II. 

Pp.  326-34  and  (bibliography)  441-42;  views  the  Sonnets  as 
largely  imaginative,  and  analyzes  them  into  topical  series. 

_—   1895.   F.  E.  Schelling:  A  Book  of  Elizabethan  Lyrics.    Boston. 

The  Introduction  discusses  the  Elizabethan  sonnet,  pp.  xvi- 
xxi;  for  notes  on  eight  selected  sonnets,  see  pp.  246-49. 

1896.  F.  S.  Boas:  Sh.  and  his  Predecessors. 

Pages   1 14-2 1.     Defends  the  autobiographic  theory  and  t 
Pembroke  and  Chapman  identifications. 

1896.  J.  P.  Yeatman:  The  Gentle  Sh.,  a  Vindication. 

Pp.  295-301;  argues  that  many  of  the  sonnets  are  the  work  of 
other  writers  than  Sh.  / 

1896.  C.  E[llis]:  Sh.  and  the  Bible:  Fifty  Sonnets  with  their  Scriptural 

Harmonies. 

Eccentric.  Embodied  in  the  writer's  volume,  Christ  in  Sh.,  1897. 

1897.  G.  Sarrazin:  W.  Sh.'s  Lehrjahre.   Weimar. 

Litter -arhistorische  Forschungen,  No.  5.  Chap.  7  (pp.  149-74) 
on  "  Die  Jugend-Sonette  ";  argument  for  the  Southampton  theory, 
and  on  the  question  of  date;  relation  of  the  Sonnets  to  Daniel's 
verse  emphasized. 


■  ~    H  ! 


522 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


[vi 


1900. 
1900. 


1897.  J.  M.  Robertson:  Montaigne  and  Sh. 

Some  parallels  noted  for  the  Sonnets. 

1897.  Lady  Newdigate-Newdegate :  Gossip  from  a  Muniment  Room; 

being  passages  in  the  lives  of  Anne  and  Mary  Fitton. 

Contains  matter  of  some  interest  in  connection  with  the  Pem- 
broke-Fitton  theory.  In  the  second  edition,  1898,  is  an  Appendix 
by  C.  G.  O.  Bridgeman,  on  the  Portraits  of  Mary  Fitton.  The 
book  is  fully  discussed,  in  relation  to  the  Sonnets,  by  A.  von 
Mauntz,  Jahrbuch,  34:  378. 

1898.  Sidney  Lee:  A  Life  of  William  Sh. 

Revised  editions,  1909  and  19 16.  Chapters  7-8,  and  Appen- 
dices 3-10.  Opposes  the  Pembroke  theory ;  emphasizes  the  patron- 
age of  Southampton;  discusses  the  relation  of  the  Sonnets  to 
continental  sonneteering  in  the  Renaissance. 

G.  Brandes:  William  Sh.,  a  Critical  Study. 

Bk.  2,  chaps.  5-7.  Develops  the  Pembroke  theory,  and  dis- 
cusses Platonism  in  the  Sonnets. 

W.  Franz:  Shakespeare-Grammatik.   Halle. 

H.  W.  Mabie:  William  Sh.,  Poet,  Dramatist,  and  Man.    New 

York. 

hap.  9.   This  chapter  also  appeared  in  The  Outlook,  Aug.  25, 

1900. 

Studies  in  Honor  of  Basil  L.  Gildersleeve.   Baltimore. 

Contains^paper  by  T.  R.  Price,  on  The  Technic  of  Sh.'s  Sonnets 
the  fiction  theory  defended. 

Bowyer  Nichols :  A  Little  Book  of  English  Sonnets. 

Introduction  (pp.  xvii-xxiii)  discusses  the  form  of  the  Shake- 
rean  sonnet. 

1903.  W.  C.  Hazlitt:  Sh.,  Himself  and  his  Work. 

4th  ed.,  enlarged,  1912.  Pp.  208-67;  views  the  Sonnets  as  a 
miscellany,  in  wholly  uncertain  order. 

1903.  A.  von  Mauntz:  Heraldik  in  Diensten  der  Sh.-Forschung.  Berlin. 

The  sixth  and  seventh  sections  ("studies")  discuss  an  alleged 

quarrel  between  Sh.  and  Gabriel  Harvey,  proposing  the  latter  as 

the  rival  poet,  and  a  certain  Lady  Smith  as  both  patroness  and 

"dark  lady." 

1903.  John  Erskine:  The  Elizabethan  Lyric.   New  York. 

Pp.  167-75. 
[1904.]  W.  J.  Rolfe:  Life  of  William  Sh.   Boston. 

Pp.  328-65.  Opposes  the  authority  of  the  1609  arrangement; 
supports  the  Pembroke  theory. 

[1904.]  Sidney  Lee:  Elizabethan  Sonnets,  newly  arranged  and  indexed. 
[New  English  Garner.] 

Introduction  on  Elizabethan  sonnet  literature. 

1904.  H.  R.  D.  Anders:  Sh.'s  Books.   Berlin. 

A  few  notes  on  Sonnet  sources,  passim. 


vi]  BIBLIOGRAPHY  523 

1905.  R.  Genee:  William  Sh.  in  seinem  VVerden  und  Wesen.   Berlin. 

Pp.  181-82;  292-97.   The  Southampton  theory  followed. 

1906.  Morton  Luce :  A  Handbook  to  the  Works  of  W.  Sh. 

Pp.  82-97. 
*i9o6.  G.  Sarrazin:  Aus  Sh.'s  Meisterwerkstatt.   Berlin. 

Develops  the  writer's  opinions  on  the  date  of  the  Sonnets;  see 
under  V,  1895,  1896,  1898. 

1907.  Walter  Raleigh:  Shakespeare  [English  Men  of  Letters]. 

Pp-  85-93-   Emphasizes  the  autobiographic  interpretation. 

1908.  G.  Saintsbury:  History  of  English  Prosody,  vol.  2. 

The  metrical  form  of  the  Sonnets  discussed  (pp.  59-61). 

1908.  H.  Reimer:  Der  Vers  in  Sh.'s  nichtdramatischen  Werken.   Bonn. 

Dissertation;  general  and  perfunctory. 

1909.  Frank  Harris:  The  Man  Sh.  and  his  Tragic  Life-Story. 

Bk.  2,  chaps.  3-5.   Discusses  the  love-story  of  the  sonnets; 
develops  the  Fitton  theory. 

1909.  A.  C.  Bradley:  Oxford  Lectures  on  Poetry. 

Pp.  327-36.    Discusses  the  autobiographical  significance  of  the 
Sonnets. 

1909.  J.  J.  Jusserand:  A  Literary  History  of  the  English  People. 

Vol.  2,  pp.  226-43;  discusses  the  biographic  significance  and  the 
literary  qualities  of  the  Sonnets. 

19 10.  Sidney  Lee:  The  French  Renaissance  in  England. 

Bk.  4,  chaps.  12-14:  "The  Assimilation  of  the  French  Sonnet "; 
11  Sh.  and  the  French  Sonnet " ;  "  The  Poetic  Vaunt  of  Immortality." 

19 10.  Cambridge  History  of  English  Literature,  vol.  5. 

Pp.  228-33;  American  ed-»  256-61.    Sh.'s  Poems  discussed  by 
G.  Saintsbury. 

191 1.  Percy  Simpson:  Shakespearian  Punctuation.   Oxford. 

On  the  punctuation  of  the  quarto  of  1609,  passim. 
191 1.  William  Jaggard :  Shakespeare  Bibliography.  Stratford-on-Avon. 
Poems,  pp.  433-4 J ;  Sonnets,  pp.  452_56. 

191 1.  J.  W.  Mackail:  Lectures  on  Poetry. 

Pp.   179-207.    Lecture  on  the  Sonnets,  defending  the   1609 
arrangement,  and  discussing  date  and  literary  value. 

1912.  E.  B.  Reed:  English  Lyrical  Poetry.   New  Haven. 

Pp.  169-76. 
1912.  Essays  and  Studies  by  Members  of  the  English  Association,  vol. 
3;  collected  by  W.  P.  Ker. 

Contains  an  essay  by  J.  W.  Mackail  on  "A  Lover's  Complaint," 
in  which  he  proposes  the  view  (pp.  66-69)  that  the  poem  is  the 
work  of  the  "rival  poet"  of  the  Sonnets. 
191 2.  Frank  Harris:  The  Women  of  Sh. 

Discusses,  passim,  the  Sonnets  on  the  basis  of  the  Fitton  theory. 


524  BIBLIOGRAPHY  [vi 

1912.  Henry  Brown:  Sh.'s  Patrons,  and  other  Essays  [posthumous]. 

Contains  essays  on  Southampton  and  Pembroke,  on  the  singing 
of  Sh.'s  Sonnets,  on  Sh.'s  preference  for  blond  beauty,  and  on  the 
general  question  of  the  interpretation  of  the  Sonnets  (see  the 
writer's  work  under  IV,  1870). 

1913.  Anniversary  Papers  by  Colleagues  and  Pupils  of  George  Lyman 

Kittredge.   Boston. 

Contains  paper  by  R.  M.  Alden,  on  the  Quarto  Arrangement  of 
Sh.'s  Sonnets  (p.  279);  see  above,  p.  430. 

1915.  C.  C.  Stopes:  Sh.'s  Environment. 

Contains  essay  on  "The  Friends  in  Sh.'s  Sonnets,"  pp.  135-60, 
from  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Literature,  1908; 
various  aspects  of  the  Southampton  theory,  largely  included  in  the 
writer's  earlier  publications. 

♦1915.  H.  Kliem:  Sentimentale  Freundschaft  in  der  Sh.  Epoche.  Jena. 
Dissertation.     Justifies    the    man-friendship  of    the  Sonnets. 
Reviewed  in  Jahrbuch,  51:  260. 


INDEXES 


INDEX  TO  BIBLIOGRAPHY 


E.  S.  A.     V,  1892. 

Abbott,  E.  A.     VI,  1869. 

Acheson,  A.     IV,  1903,  1913. 

Adams,  J.  Q.     V,  1914. 

Ainger,  A.     V,  1899,  1900. 

Alden,  R.  M.     I,  1913;  V,  1915,  1916; 

VI,  1913. 
Alger,  W.  R.     V,  1862. 
Anders,  H.  R.  D.     VI,  1904. 
Anderson,  R.     II,  1795. 
Archer,  W.     V,  1897. 
Arnaud,  S.     V,  1891.. 
Asher,  D.     V,  1861. 
Axon,  W.  E.  A.     V,  1884. 

C.  C.  B.     V,  1891,  1892,  1893,  1896, 

1911,  1912,  1913. 
J.  G.  B.     V,  1885. 
Badt,  B.     V,  1910. 
Baltzer,  A.     Ilia,  1910. 
Barnstorff,  D.     IV,  i860. 
Barrett,  H.  W.     V,  1847. 
Barton,  A.  T.     II Ij,  19 13. 
Bates,  E.  S.     V,  19 10. 
Bathurst,  C.     VI,  1857. 
Bauernfeld,  E.  V.     Ilia,  1827. 
Bayley,  A.  R.     V,  1913. 
Bayne,  T.     V,  1887. 
Beeching,  H.  C.     I,   1904;  II,   1907; 

V,  1899,  1902. 
Bekk,  A.     VI,  1864. 
Bell,  R.     II,  1855;  V,  1866. 
Bennett,  H.     II,  1905. 
Benson,  J.  II,  1640. 
Berzeviczy,  A.  von.     V,  1913. 
Bibliothecary.     V,  1879. 
Birdwood,  G.     V,  1904. 
Blair,  J.  T.     I,  1904. 
Blatt,  VV.  M.     V,  1913. 
Bleibtreu,  K.     V,  1910. 
Blind,  M.     I,  1902. 
Boaden,  J.     IV,  1837;  V,  1832. 
Boas,  F.  S.     VI,  1896. 
Bodenstedt,  F.     Ilia,  1862. 
Boswell,  J.     II,  1821. 
Bradley,  A.  C.     VI,  1909. 
Brae,  A.  E.     V,  1873,  1877. 


Brandes,  G.     I,  1904;  VI,  1898. 

Brandl,  A.     Ilia,  1913. 

Bridgeman,  C.  G.  O.     V,  1892;  VI, 

1898. 
Bright,  B.  H.     V,  1832. 
Bright,  J.  W.     V,  1899. 
Briscoe,  J.  P.     I,  1900. 
Brockington,  W.  A.     I,  1895. 
Brown,  C.  A.     IV,  1838. 
Brown,  H.     IV,  1870;  VI,  1912. 
Brown,  W.  B.     V,  1912,  1913. 
Browne,  C.  E.     V,  1873,  1880. 
Browne,  J.  H.     V,  1884. 
Brownlow,  E.  B.     V,  1893. 
Budd,  T.  D.     I,  1868. 
Bullen,  A.  H.     I,  1905;  II,  1907. 
Bulloch,  J.     VI,  1878. 
Burgersdijk,  L.  A.  J.     Illf,  1879;  V, 

1879. 
Butler,  J.  D.     V,  1903. 
Butler,  S.     I,  1899;  V,  1898,  1900. 

B.  C.     V,  1879. 

Caldwell,  G.  S.     VI,  1877. 

Campbell,  Lord.     VI,  1859. 

Campe.     II,  1837. 

Capell,  E.     II,  1710. 

Caro,  J.     V,  1896. 

Cartwright,  R.     I,  1859;  V,  1862. 

Causton,  H.  K.  S.     VI,  1851. 

Chalmers,  G.     VI,  1797,  1799. 

Chambers,  E.  K.     II,  1906;  V,  1897. 

Chambrun,  C.   L.  de.     IV,  1913;  V, 

1913. 
Chasles,  P.     V,  1862,  1867. 
Chiarini,  G.     V,  1890. 
Child,  F.  J.     II,  1856. 
Clark,  W.  G.     II,  1864,  1866. 
Clarke,  C.  &  M.  C.     II,  1864. 
Clelia.     IV,  1892. 
Coleridge,  S.  T.     VI,  1817,  1835. 
Collier,  J.  P.     II,  1844. 
Collins,  J.  C.     V,  1898. 
Conrad,  H.     V,  1895. 
Conwell,  C.     I,  1901. 
Cooke,  C.     II,  1797. 
Copin,  A.     Illb,  1888. 


528 


INDEX  TO  BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Corney,  B.     IV,  1862;  V,  1862,  1865. 
Craig,  W.  J.     I,  1905;  II,  1891. 
Creighton,  C.     V,  1901. 
Crosby,  J.     V,  1883. 
Cunningham,  P.     VI,  184 1. 

Danckelmann,  E.  von.     IV,  1897. 

Darchini,  L.     I  lie,  1909. 

Davidson,  J.     II,  1908. 

Davis,  H.     V,  1888,  1893. 

Dean,  C.     I,  1899. 

Delecluze,  E.  J.     VI,  1848. 

Delius,  N.     II,  1856;  V,  1865. 

Dennis,  J.     I,  1902. 

Direy,  L.     Illb,  1891;  IV,  1890. 

Dobell,  B.     V,  1913. 

Douse,  T.  L.  M.     V,  1900,  1904. 

Dowden,   E.     I,   1881;   II,   1903;  V, 

1886,  1900;  VI,  1875. 
Downing,  C.     IV,  1892. 
Drake,  N.     VI,  1817. 
Dunning,  E.  J.     IV,  1897. 
Dyce,  A.     II,  1832,  1856,  1857. 

Edmonds,  C.     V,  1873. 
Eichhoff,  T.     IV,  1903. 
Ellis,  C.     VI,  1896. 
Ellis,  E.  J.  &  T.  J.     I,  1883. 
Ellis,  F.  S.     II,  1893,  1899. 
Elze,  K.     V,  1875;  VI,  1876. 
Erskine,  J.     VI,  1903. 
Evans,  Judge.     V,  1914. 
Evans,  T.     II,  1775- 
Ewing,  T.     II,  1771. 

Filon,  A.     V,  1901. 

Fleay,    F.    G.     V,    1875;    VI,    1886, 

1891. 
Fleischer.     II,  1826. 
Franklyn,  C.  W.     V,  1889. 
Franz,  W.     VI,  1900. 
Friesen,  H.  von.     Ilia,  1869;  V,  1869; 

VI,  1874. 
Fulda,  L.     Ilia,  1913. 
Fumivall,  F.  J.     II,   1877;  V,   1875, 

1876,  1880,  1 89 1,  1897;  VI,  1884. 

Gardiner,  R.  F.     V,  1887. 
Garnett,  R.     V,  1900. 
Gamier,  CM.     1 1  lb,  1906. 
Garrett,  R.  M.     IV,  1912. 
Garrigues,  G.     V,  1887. 
Gelbcke,  F.  A.     Ilia,  1867. 
Genee,  R.     VI,  1872,  1905, 
Gentleman,  F.     II,  1774. 


George,  S.     Ilia,  1909. 
Gerbel,  N.     Illh,  1880. 
Gervinus,  G.  G.     VI,  1849. 
Gilbert,  J.     I,  1878. 
Gildemeister,  O.     Ilia,  1871. 
Gildon,  C.     II,  1710. 
Gilfillan,  G.     II,  1856. 
Godeke,  K.     V,  1877. 
Godwin,  P.     IV,  1900. 
Gollancz,  I.     I,  1896. 
Goodlet,  I.     V,  1 89 1. 
Gray,  H.  D.     V,  1915. 
Greenhill,  J.     VI,  1884. 
Griffin,  W.  H.     VI,  1895. 
Groos,  K.     V,  1910. 
Guiney,  L.  I.     V,  191 1. 
Gundolf,  F.     V,  1910. 
Guizot,  F.     Illb,  1862. 
Guttman.     Ilia,  1875. 

C.  E.  H.     V,  1900. 

Hadow,  W.  H.     I,  1907. 

Hales,  J.  W.     V,  1877,  1897,  1900. 

Hall,  A.     V,  1884,  1900. 

Hallam,  H.     VI,  1837. 

Halliwell[-Phillipps],  J.  O.     II,  1865; 

VI,  1882. 
Hansen,  A.     I  He,  1885. 
Harris,  F.     VI,  1909,  1912. 
Harrison,  W.  A.     V,  1884,  1885;  VI, 

1884. 
Hazlitt,  W.     II,  1852. 
Hazlitt,  W.  C.     V,   1865;  VI,   1874, 

1903. 
Hegediis,  S.  von.     V,  19 13. 
Hemingway,  S.  B.     V,  19 10. 
Henderson,  W.  A.     V,  1902. 
Henry,  F.     Illb,  1900;  V,  1900. 
Heraud,  J.  A.     V,  1862. 
Herford,  C.  H.     II,  1900. 
Hermanas,  Dos.     Illg,  1877. 
Hertzberg,  W.     V,  1878. 
Hitchcock,  E.  A.     IV,  1865. 
Holland,  B.     V,  1910. 
Housman,  R.  F.     VI,  1835- 
Hubbard,  E.     I,  1899. 
Hudson,  H.  N.     I,    1903;    II,    1856, 

1911. 
Hugo,  F.  V.     Illb,  1857. 
Hunt,  L.     VI,  1867. 
Hunter,  J.     VI,  1845. 

Ibbs,  E.  A.     I,  1913. 
Ingleby,  C.  M.     IV,  1872;   V,  1873, 
1903;  VI,  1874. 


INDEX  TO  BIBLIOGRAPHY 


529 


Iorio,  A.  J.     I,  1912. 
Isaac,    H.     [Later    Conrad,    H. 
1878,  1882,  1884. 


V, 


D.  J.     V,  1909. 

Jabez  [pseud,  for  Ingleby].  V,   1874, 

1875,  1877. 
Jackson,  E.  A.     IV,  1904. 
Jaggard,  W.      VI,  191 1. 
Jameson,  A.  B.  M.     VI,  1829. 
Johnson,  J.     IV,  1899. 
Jones,  Tom.     V,  19 13. 
Jordan,  W.     1 1  la,  1861. 
Jusserand,  J.  J.     VI,  1909. 

Karpf,  C.     VI,  1869. 

Kasprowicz,  J.     Illh,  1907. 

Keightley,  T.     II,  1865. 

Kenny,  T.     VI,  1864. 

Kent,  S.     IV,  1915. 

Kinnear,  B.  G.     VI,  1883. 

Klein,  D.  L.     V,  1905. 

Kliem,  H.     VI,  1915. 

Knight,  C.     II,  1838,  1843. 

Kock,  E.  A.     V,  1910. 

Kralik,  R.  von.  V,  1907. 

Krauss,  F.  Ilia,  1872;  V,  1879,  1881; 

VI,  1882. 
Kreyssig,  F.     V,  1864;  VI,  1858. 

Lachmann,  K.     Ilia,  1820. 

Lafond,  E.     1 1  lb,  1836. 

Lee,  S.  I,  1905;  II,  1908;  V,  1898, 

1900,  1909;  VI,  1898,  1904,  1910. 
Lee,  S.  A.  VI,  1867. 
Legis,  R.  H.  V,  1876,  1877. 
Leigh,  G.  A.  V,  1897. 
Leo,  F.  A.  Ilia,  1872;  V,  1888. 
Lettsom,  W.  N.  VI,  i860. 
Lichtenberger,  E.  IV,  1877. 
Liddell,  M.  H.  V,  1902. 
Lintott,  B.  II,  1710. 
Luce,  M.  VI,  1906. 

C.  B.  M.     V,  1887. 
J.  M.     IV,  1904. 

Mabie,  H.  W.     V,  1909;  VI,  1900. 
Mackail,  J.  W.     VI,  191 1,  1912. 
Mackay,  C.     V,  1884. 
MacMahan,  A.  B.     IV,  1909. 
Main,  D.  M.     VI,  1880. 
Malone,  E.     II,  1780,  1790. 
Marchi,  L.  de.     IV,  1891. 
Massey,  G.     IV,  1866,  1888;  V,  1864, 
1867. 


Mauntz,  A.  von.  Ilia,  1894;  V, 
1893,  1897;  VI,  1897,  1903. 

McClumpha,  C.  F.  V,  1900,  1901, 
1904. 

Minto,  W.     VI,  1874. 

Montegut,  E.     Illb,  1873. 

Montmorency,  J.  E.  G.  de.    V,  1912. 

Moore,  T.  S.     I,  1899,  1903. 

More,  P.  E.     V,  1904. 

Morgan,  A.     V,  1885. 

Morlaix,  A.     V,  1834. 

Morley,  H.     VI,  1895. 

Mortemart,  C.     II,  1908. 

Mosher,  T.  B.     I,  1901. 

Neidhardt,  A.     Ilia,  1870. 

Neil,   S.     V,    1867,    1873;   VI,    1861. 

Neilson,  W.  A.     II,  1906. 

Ne  Quid  Nimis.     V,  1903. 

Netto,  I.     V,  1910. 

Newdigate-Newdegate,     Lady.     VI, 

1897. 
Nichols,  B.     VI,  1903. 
Nicholson,  B.     V,   1869,  1879,  1883, 

1887,  1889,  1891,  1892. 
Norwood,  T.  W.     V,  1889. 
Nyblom,  C.  R.     Hid,  1871. 

O'Flanagan,  J.  I.     IV,  1902. 
Olivieri,  A.     I  lie,  1890. 
Ormsby,  W.  E.     V,  1902. 
Ortlepp,  E.     1 1  la,  1840. 
Ospovat,  H.     I,  1899. 
Oulton,  W.  C.     II,  1804. 

Palgrave,  F.  T.     II,  1865. 
Palmer,  G.  H.     IV,  1912. 
Pattison,  M.     VI,  1883. 
Pemberton,  J.     V,  1908,  1909. 
Piatt,  A.     V,  191 1. 
Plumptre,  E.  H.     V,  1889. 
Porter,  C.     II,  1912. 
Praetorius,  C.     I,  1886. 
Price,  H.  T.     V,  1913. 
Price,  T.  R.     VI,  1902. 

J.  G.  R.     V,  1859. 
Raleigh,  W.     VI,  1907. 
Reed,  E.  B.     VI,  1912. 
Reed,  H.     VI,  1857. 
Regis,  G.     Ilia,  1836. 
Reichel,  E.     V,  1902. 
Reimer,  H.     VI,  1908. 
Richardson,  D.  L.     V,  1834. 
Robertson,  J.  M.     VI,  1897. 


530 


INDEX  TO  BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Robinson,  G.  &  J.     II,  1797. 

Rodder,  P.     IV,  1913. 

Rolfe,  W.  J.     I,  1883;  V,  1884,  1889, 

1891,  1894,  1895,  1899;  VI,  1904. 
Ross,  G.     VI,  1867. 
Rossetti,  W.  M.     VI,  1878. 
Rushton,  W.  L.     V,  1899. 

J.  M.  S.     V,  1898. 

Sachs.     V,  1890. 

Saenger,  E.     Ilia,  1909. 

Saintsbury,  G.     VI,  1908,  1910. 

Sanfelice,  E.     I  He,  1898. 

Sarrazin,    G.     V,    1895,    1896,    1898, 

1914;  VI,  1897,  1906. 
Schelling,  F.  E.     VI,  1895. 
Schlegel,  A.  W.  von.     VI,  1809. 
Schmidt,  A.     VI,  1874. 
Schucking,  L.  L.     V,  1907. 
Schumacher,  A.     Ilia,  1827. 
Sewell,  G.     II,  1725. 
Sharp,  W.     II,  1885. 
Shaw,  G.  B.     V,  191 1. 
Shepherd,  R.  H.     VI,  1866. 
Sherborne,     V,  1896. 
Shindler,  R.     V,  1892. 
Sievers,  E.  W.     VI,  1866. 
Simpson,  P.     VI,  191 1. 
Simpson,  R.     IV,  1868. 
Simrock,  K.     Ilia,  1867. 
Smith,  A.  R.     II,  1885. 
Smith,  G.  C.  M.     V,  1914. 
Spalding,  T.  A.     V,  1878. 
Spence,  R.  M.     V,  1896. 
Speriend.     V,  1875. 
Spring,  L.  W.     V,  1894. 
Staunton,  H.     II,  i860;  V,  1873. 
Steevens,  G.     II,  1766. 
Stengel,  E.     V,  1881. 
Stone,  E.  D.     V,  1876,  1904. 
Stopes,  C.  C.     I,  1904;  V,  1890,  1898, 

1900,  1913;  VI,  1915. 
Stronach,  G.  V,  1903. 
Swinburne,  A.  C.     V,  1880* 


D.  C.  T.     V,  1887. 

Taine,  H.  A.     VI,  1863. 

Tannenbaum,  S.     V,  1914. 

Tausig,  P.     V,  1904. 

Tieck,  L.     V,  1826. 

Tirinelli,  G.     V,  1878. 

Towndrow,  R.  F.     V,  1904. 

Travers,  S.  S.     V,  1880. 

Treglown,  E.  G.     I,  1895. 

Tschischwitz,  B.     Ilia,  1870. 

Tyler,  T.  I,  1886,  1890;  IV,  1898; 
V,  1880,  1884,  1885,  1888,  1889, 
1890,  1891,  1892,  1897,  1898. 

Ulrici,  H.     VI,  1839. 
Underhill,  W.     V,  1890. 
Urban,  S.     V,  1898. 

Valpy,  A.  J.     II,  1834. 
Vaughn,  J.     V,  1897. 
Verity,  A.  W.     II,  1890. 

Wagner,  E.     Ilia,  1840. 

Wailly,  A.  F.  L.  de.     V,  1834. 

Walker,  W.  S.     VI,  i860. 

Walsh,  C.  M.     I,  1908. 

Walters,    C.       IV,     1899;     V,    1898, 

1899. 
Wendell,  B.     VI,  1894. 
White,  F.  A.     V,  1900. 
White,  R.  G.     II,  1865. 
Wilde,  O.     V,  1889. 
Wilkins,  E/H.     V,  1915. 
Winsor,  J.     VI,  1879. 
Wolff,   M.   J.     Ilia,    1903;   V,    1908, 

1911,  1916. 
Wordsworth,  W.     VI,  18 15. 
Wright,  W.  A.     II,  1864,  1866. 
Wyndham,  G.     II,  1898. 

Y.  Y.     V,  1900. 
Yeatman,  J.  P.     VI,  1896. 

Zoltan,  V.     I  Hi,  1909. 


INDEX  TO  THE    COMMENTARY 


Words  and  phrases  from  the  text  of  the  Sonnets  are  cited  without  initial  capitals. 


Absolute  infinitive,  149. 

abuse,  114. 

acceptable,  27. 

accessory,  97,  98. 

accident,  291. 

action,  163. 

Adonis,  132. 

advance,  193. 

advised  respects,  124. 

^schylus,  24. 

Age,  Sh.'s,  63,  157,  333. 

aggravate,  356. 

alien,  192. 

all  (=  any),  183. 

all  away,  186. 

all-eating,  21. 

all-oblivious,  142. 

allow,  266. 

all-too-precious,  208. 

all  tyrant,  362. 

amiss  (n.),  96,  366. 

Anima  mundi,  doctrine  of,  250. 

answer  (=  pay),  302. 

Anthologia  Latina,  370. 

Anthologia  Palatina,  369,  370. 

antique,  52,  243. 

antiquity,  158,  253. 

approve,  114,  177,  359. 

April,  228. 

argument,  104,  194,  234,  238. 

Aristotle,  241. 

Armada,  defeat  of,  247. 

Arms,  grant  of  to  Sh.,  77,  99. 

array,  354~56. 

arrest  (n.),  183. 

art,  43,  167,  172,  335. 

arts,  193. 

Assonance,  162,  226,  228. 

Aston,  Sir  R.,  208. 

astonished,  208. 

astronomy,  42. 

attaint  (n.),  199. 

attainted,  212. 

audit,  302. 

Augustine,  57. 


Ausonius,  56, 
aye  me,  113. 

Baif,  de,  79,  182,  227. 

Barley-break,  348. 

Barnes,  B.,  200,  206,  209,  279;  Divine 
Century,  353;  Parthenophil,  59,  70, 
79,  121,  196,  202,  211,  232,  321,  322. 

Barnfield,  R.,  121,  209;  Affectionate 
Shepherd,  63,  228. 

barren  rage,  41. 

Bath,  371. 

beated,  157. 

Beaumont,  F.,  295. 

beauteous  roof,  36. 

beauty's  effect,  28. 

Beauty,  theme  of,  86,  135,  233,  235. 

becoming,  364. 

becoming  of,  307. 

beds'  revenues,  342. 

bed-vow  broke,  368. 

begetter,  5-10,  105. 

Belleau,  227. 

Belvedere,  13. 

beshrew  that  heart,  321. 

besides,  66. 

bestow,  76. 

better  angel,  348,  349. 

better  part,  106,  184. 

better  spirit,  195,  209. 

bevel,  285. 

Beza,  109. 

Bible,  31,  38,  146,  151,  167. 

bide,  149,  336. 

Blackness,  304-06. 

blacks,  191. 

blazon,  243. 

blenches,  259. 

blind  soul,  328. 

Blond  beauty,  304-06. 

blots,  98. 

blunt,  238. 

Boccaccio,  349. 

Bodenham,  J.,  13. 

Book  of  Common  Prayer,  146,  274. 


532 


INDEX  TO   THE   COMMENTARY 


books,  66. 

bore  the  canopy,  295. 

borne,  171. 

both  your  poets,  202. 

bounty,  133. 

bower,  306. 

brand,  263. 

brass  eternal,  161. 

bravery,  93. 

breed,  39. 

breather,  198. 

Breton:  Soul's  Harmony,  357. 

bright  in  dark,  116. 

Browning,  204. 

Bruno,  GM  103,  151,  250,  351,  358. 

Campanella,  151. 

Campion,  200. 

candles,  59. 

canker,  95. 

canker-blooms,  134. 

canopy,  295. 

Capitalization,  146,  167,  197,  224. 

carcanet,  131. 

care,  145. 

Carey:  Chrononhotonthologus,  308. 

case,  253. 

cast  his  sum,  124. 

Catullus,  364. 

Chapman,  G.,  61,  62,  174,  188,  193, 

200,  205,  207,  209,  290,  339. 
character,  206. 
charge,  356. 
Chaucer,  243,  353. 
check,  45,  149. 
cheer,  226. 
cherubins,  271. 

Chiastic  construction,  79,  186. 
child  of  state,  290. 
choirs,  182. 
chopt,  158. 
'cide,  121. 
clear,  204. 

closure  of  my  breast,  123. 
Codex  amoris,  65. 
Coleridge:  Christabel,  281. 
colour,  235. 
comment,  45,  212. 
common,  174. 
commons,  331. 
compeers  by  night,  208. 
compile,  193,  205. 
composed  wonder,  152. 
Compound  epithets,  146. 
comDOund  sweet,  296. 


compounds  strange,  188. 

conceit,  45,  76. 

confound,  27,  33,  153,  173. 

Constable,  Sonnets  of,  60,  69,  70,  121, 

226,  230,  242,  243,  308,  314,  336. 
contracted,  18,  145. 
controlling,  56. 
convert,  37,  43. 
correct  correction,  264. 
countenance,  209. 
counterfeit,  46,  132. 
couplement,  58. 
crooked,  153. 
Cupid,  300. 
curse,  204. 
Cycles,  doctrine  of,  150,  288. 

Daiphantus,  32. 

damasked,  316. 

Daniel:  Cleopatra,  106;  Complaint  of 
Rosamond,  68;  Sonnets,  16,  26,  41, 
59,  63,  65,  69,  77,  78,  89,  104,  139, 
159,  160,  182,  200,  211,  213,  224, 
231,  240. 

Dante,  18,  57,  65,  79,  119,  120,  126, 
222,  227,  351. 

darkly  bright,  116. 

dateless,  85,  371. 

Davenant,  Jane,  348. 

Davies,  J.  (of  Hereford),  59,  66,  199, 
200,  209,  261,  324,  353. 

Davies,  Sir  J. :  Gulling  Sonnets,  75, 322. 

Davies,  R.,  106. 

Davison,  F.,  193,  199. 

dear,  101,  341. 

dearths,  43. 

dear  time's  waste,  85. 

debate  (n.),  213. 

debateth,  45. 

dedicated  words,  199. 

Dedication,  sonnets  of,  75. 

Dee,  J.,  208. 

defeat,  56,  156. 

Dekker,  72;  Satiromastix,  5,  II,  12. 

denotes,  361. 

departest,  37. 

desert,  125,  180. 

Desportes,  79,  139,  182. 

determinate,  211. 

determination,  41. 

devouring  time,  52. 

dial,  189. 

difference,  241. 

disabled,  167. 

discloses,  135. 


INDEX  TO  THE   COMMENTARY 


533 


distil,  135. 

Dog-rose,  134. 

doom,  351. 

Drayton,  209;  Harmony  of  the  Church, 
206;  Heroical  Epistles,  200;  Legend 
of  Matilda ,  16;  Moon-  Calf,  171; 
Polyolbion,  199,  208;  Sonnets,  49, 
63,  70,  103,  104,  120,  139,  159,  171, 

197,  210,  213,   247,  265,  274,  321, 

323.  338,  343.  347,  358. 
dressings  of  a  former  sight,  289. 
drop  in,  214. 

Drummond  of  Hawthornden,  83,  227. 
Dryden,  56. 

Du  Bellay,  61,  118,  141. 
dullness,  143. 
dumb  presagers,  67,  68. 

eager,  278. 

Ecclesiastes,  151,  167. 

eclipse  endur'd,  250. 

Edward  III,  91,  220,  342. 

eisel,  263. 

Elements,  the  four,  118,  119. 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  95,  105,  125,  158, 

198,  203,  244-49,  251,  292,  295,  371. 
Elliptical  construction,  202. 
Emaricdulfe,  310. 

engrossed,  321. 

enlarge,  178. 

Ennius,  139,  198. 

entertain  the  time,  106. 

Enueg,  168. 

Envoy  sonnets,  76,  88,  136,  183,  189, 

299. 
envy,  308. 
Erasmus,  28. 
Essex,  35,  55,  73,  245-46,  248-49,  273, 

288-93,  298. 
Euripides,  85. 
Eve's  apple,  218. 
except,  359. 
exchang'd,  255. 
expense,  85,  220,  312. 
expiate,  63. 
extern,  296. 

Extravagant  Shepherd,  316. 
eye  (or  eyes),  19,  21,  34,  218,  240. 
Eye  and  heart,  conceit  of,  120-21. 

Fairfax  (Tasso),  59. 

fair  (n.),  48,  50,  58,  171,  201. 

fairing,  306. 

favor,  269,  296. 

fear  of  trust,  66. 


feed  on  death,  357. 

Fenton:  Monophyle,  57. 

Field,  R.,  250. 

filed,  206,  209. 

fire  out,  349. 

fitted,  280. 

Fitton,  Mrs.,  295,  333,  343,  368. 

five  wits,  339. 

fixed,  236. 

fleets,  52. 

Fletcher,  G.:  Licia,  371. 

Florio,  138,  200,  229. 

flourish,  153. 

foison,  132. 

fond,  24. 

fond  on,  204. 

fools  of  time,  292-93. 

for  (=  because),  135. 

for  (=  to  prevent),  130. 

forlorn,  91. 

form,  213. 

for  my  love,  no. 

for  shame,  35. 

fortify,  160. 

Fortune,  83. 

forty  winters,  20. 

forward,  231. 

frame,  70. 

frank,  26. 

free,  26. 

frequent,  276. 

fresh,  49,  253. 

friend,  85. 

fury,  234. 

Fytton  (see  Fitton). 

Gascoigne,  63. 

gaze,  27. 

general,  372. 

get,  31. 

go,  129,  316. 

Golding    (Ovid),    52,    106,    Il8,    138, 

140,  151,  152,  153,  160,  302. 
gored,  257-58. 
got  my  use,  192. 
gravity,  124. 
greeing,  271. 

Greene,  R.,  209;  Orpharion,  113. 
greet,  284. 

Griffin,  196;  Fidessa,  60,  353. 
grow  (=  be),  202. 
Guarini,  26. 

Guillim:  Display  of  Heraldry,  102. 
Gunpowder  Plot,  291,  293. 
gust,  271. 


534 


INDEX  TO  THE   COMMENTARY 


habit,  334. 

had  a  father,  41. 

Hair,  false,  172. 

hallowed,  253. 

Hamnet  Sh.,  214,  253,  303. 

Harvey,  G.,  359. 

Hathaway,  Anne,  226. 

Hathaway,  W.,  7. 

heavy  Saturn,  228. 

height,  275. 

Helen,  132. 

hell  of  time,  282. 

Henry  V,  character  of,  259. 

Herbert,  W.   (see  Pembroke). 

heretic,  292. 

Herodotus,  42. 

Hesiod,  182. 

Hews,  54. 

high-most  pitch,  31. 

his  (=  its),  34. 

Homer,  182. 

honey  (adj.),  164. 

hope  of  orphans,  225. 

Horace,  130,  136-39,  180,  184. 

horse  (pi.),  216. 

hours,  27. 

hue,  54,  240. 

hugely  politic,  292. 

Hughes,  W.,  55. 

Hunnis,  W.,  203. 

husbandry,  41. 

hymn,  206. 

I  (objective),  180. 

I  (=ay),  328. 

I  am  that  I  am,  284. 

Identity,  conceit  of,  64,  98,  156. 

idolatry,  241. 

Ignoto,  315. 

ill-wrestling,  338. 

imaginary,  79. 

Immortality,  theme  of,   51,    136-41, 

198. 
importune,  343. 
imprisoned  absence,  148. 
in  act,  367. 
indigest,  271. 
indirectly,  170. 
in  effect,  207. 
influence,  44,  193. 
informer,  298. 
in  hope,  154. 
insufficiency,  364. 
intend,  79. 
interest,  87,  183. 


intitled  in  their  parts,  102. 
invention,  104,  151,  188,  238,  242. 
Italic  type,  18,  55"56,  325. 
itself,  172. 

jacks,  308. 

jade,  129. 

James  I,  244,  246,  295. 

Jamyn,  118,  227. 

Jesuit  plots,  291-93. 

Jodelle,  330,  349,  359. 

Jonson :  E.  M.  Out  of  his  Humour,  307 ; 
Masque  of  Blackness,  305 ;  Poetaster, 
138;  Translations,  310;  Underwoods, 
340;  Volpone,  13. 

Journeying,  sonnets  of,  78,  117,  126. 

Keats:  Endymion,  49. 
kind,  36. 
kindness,  368. 
knife  (of  death),  184. 
knife  (of  Time),  160. 

lace,  169. 

Lameness,  Sh.'s,  100,  213. 

Languet,  42. 

latch,  269. 

Law,  language  of,  41,  121,  211,  302, 

322. 
lay,  236. 
learned's,  193. 
leese,  28. 

Leicester,  125,  158. 
length  seem  stronger,  81. 
level,  277,  284. 
likeness  of  a  man,  340. 
like  of  hearsay,  59. 
Lilly  (see  Lyly). 
limbecks,  280. 
Linche:  Diella,  59,  72,  300. 
lines  of  life,  47. 
Lingua,  315. 
Lodge, 209;  Golden  Legacy,  313;  Phillis, 

300,  314,  316,  358. 
Longfellow:  Purgatorio,  351. 
lovely,  135. 
lovely  argument,  194. 
lovely  boy,  300-01. 
lover,  88. 

Lucrece,  dedication  of,  74-76,  88,  296. 
Lucretius,  26,  208. 
Lyly:  Campaspe,  84,   103,  306,  351; 

Endimion,  135;  Euphues,  196;  Sapho 

&  Phao,  28. 


INDEX  TO  THE   COMMENTARY 


535 


main  of  light,  153. 

makeless,  34. 

Manuscript,  sonnets  in,  21-23,  33.  89, 

135,  154,  164,  179,  252. 
many's,  218. 
Marianus,  370. 
marigold,  73. 
marjoram,  231. 
Markham,  G.,  200. 
Marlowe,    193-94,    208-09;    Hero    6f, 

Leander,  26,  32,  53,  56,  177;  Amores, 

307,  337.  339.  364. 
Marot,  109. 

Marston,  Pigmalion 's  Image,  89. 
Martial,  139,  183. 
Massinger:  Fatal  Dowry,  38. 
master  (v.),  243. 
master-mistress,  53. 
melancholy,  119. 
Meres:  Palladis  Tamia,  136-38. 
Metre,  details  of,  28,  79,  83,  85,  119, 

131,   142,  154,  156,  164,  178,  226, 

243,  273,  282. 
Michael  Angelo,  186,  259,  268,  358. 
million'd,  272. 
Milton:  Comus,  26. 
mine  untrue,  269. 
minion,  302. 
misplac'd,  167. 
misprision,  211. 
misuse,  368. 
modern,  201. 
moiety,  121. 

Moliere,  166,  331,  339,  364. 
Montaigne,  130,  356. 
more,  68. 

morning-mourning,  320. 
mortal  moon,  246-47,  251. 
motley,  257-58. 
mouthed,  190. 
mouths  of  men,  198. 
moving,  77. 
murd'rous  shame,  34. 
music  to  hear,  32. 
my  heaven,  259. 

naigh  no  dull  flesh,  128. 

Nash,  193,  200,  209;  Piers  Penniless, 

139,  208,  317;  Summer's  Last  Will, 

228. 
nativity,  153. 
nature's  truth,  154. 
nerves,  281. 
new-fangled  ill,  216. 


oblivious,  142. 

obsequious,  86,  297. 

o'ergreen,  266. 

o'erlook,  199. 

offices,  190. 

oft  predict,  43. 

old,  21. 

only,  19. 

ornament,  133. 

or  whether,  271. 

other  (pi.),  157,  206. 

other  mine,  323. 

Ovid,  21,  37,  45,  52,  53,  77,  106,  116, 
136-41,  146,  151, 152, 153, 161, 162, 
163,  195-96,  202,  215,  237,  302,  305, 

307,  336,337,  339.  361,364. 
owe  (=  own),  51,  178. 

pace  forth,  142. 

page,  254. 

pain,  105,  340. 

painting,  201. 

Palatine  Anthology,  369-70. 

Parrot :  Springes  for  Woodcocks,  324. 

partake,  362. 

part  his  function,  269. 

parts  of  me,  87. 

parts  the  shore,  144. 

pass  (n.),  238. 

passion,  53. 

past  cure  past  care,  359. 

patent,  211. 

Peace  of  1609,  249. 

peace  of  you,  185. 

Peacham:  Minerva  Britannia,  135. 

Peele,  209. 

Pembroke,  Countess  of,  25. 

Pembroke,  William  Herbert,  Earl  of, 

18,  52,  55.  u°.  133*  H6,  147.  198. 

200,  224,  242,  277,  295,  304,  324, 

343.  344- 
pen,  197,  204. 
perfects,  127. 
perspective,  71. 
Petrarch,  63,  65,  70,  78,  79,  83,  109, 

120,  121,  126,  168,  186,  227,  231, 

268,  269,  314,  358. 
Petronius,  310-11. 
Phwnix  &  Turtle,  98,  107. 
pibled,  152. 
Pindar,  139. 
pity,  343- 
plagues,  43. 

Plato,  17,  180,  221,  358. 
Platonism,  86,  103,  229,  235,  268,  349. 


536 


INDEX  TO  THE   COMMENTARY 


Pleiade,  188,  231. 

pointing,  43. 

policy,  278,  292. 

poor  beauty,  170. 

poor  rude  lines,  88. 

posting,  127. 

predict  (n.),  43. 

prevent,  234. 

prime,  176,  225. 

privilege  (v.),  149. 

Profession,  Sh.'s,  257,  260-63. 

Propertius,  139. 

prophetic  soul,  250. 

prove,  180,  329. 

public  means,  263. 

Punctuation  of  Quarto,  19,  28,  29,  31, 

34,  39,  43,  74,  83,  92,  208,  296. 
pupil  pen,  48. 
Puritanism,  214,  285. 
pursuit,  344. 
pyramids,  288. 

qualify,  255. 
quest,  121. 
question  make,  39. 
quick,  187. 
quietus,  302. 
quires,  182. 

rack,  91. 

rage,  49. 

ragged,  29. 

Raleigh,  65. 

rank  (adj.),  279,  285. 

rank  (n.),  287. 

receipt,  329. 

record  (n.),  151,  289. 

recured,  119. 

reeks,  316. 

region,  92. 

reign,  285. 

Relative,  omission  of,  26,  184,  323. 

religious,   87. 

remember,  282. 

remove,  73,  274. 

render,  297,  302. 

reserve,  89. 

reserve  their  character,  205. 

respect,  99. 

resty,  234. 

revolt,  217. 

revolution,  152. 

Rhyme,  peculiarities  of,  37,  43,  125, 

142,  155,  180,  211,  215,  351. 
Rich,  B.,  209. 


Rich,  Lady  Penelope,  146,  304,  357. 

riches  (sing.),  211. 

Romaunt  of  the  Rose,  18. 

rondure,  58. 

Ronsard,    70,    79,    118,    139-41,    182. 

231,  234,  240,  286,  316,  359. 
rose,  17,  170,  256. 
Russell,  Anne,  295. 
Rutland,  Lord,  264. 

St.  Evremond,  109. 

salutation,  283. 

Sappho,  139. 

satire,  234. 

Saturn,  228. 

scanted,  276. 

scarlet  ornaments,  342. 

seal,  342. 

seat,  113. 

seconds,  297. 

seeing  (n.),  170. 

self-love,  24. 

self -substantial,  19. 

sense,  96,  266. 

sensual,  96. 

separable,  99. 

servant,  146. 

sessions,  84. 

set  a  form,  213. 

set  light,  212. 

several,  331. 

shadow,  79,  103,  131,  133,  155,  170. 

shady  stealth,  190. 

shame,  155,  180. 

Shenstone,  371. 

Shirley,  315. 

show,  132,  135,  241. 

sickle-hour,  301. 

side  (v.),  121. 

Sidney,  72,  227;  Apologie  for  Poetrie, 
139;  Arcadia,  16,  21,  25/28,  29,  33, 
36,  41,  48,  64,  278,  360;  Astrophel 
&  Stella,  42,  60,  61,  68,  78,  79,  81, 
82,  86,  115,  119,  120,  126,  170,  188, 
192,  204,  309,  310,  314,  315,  318, 
319,  330,  336,  337,  348,  352,  358, 
363,  365,  366. 

sight,  85. 

simplicity,  167. 

simply,  334. 

siren,  279. 

slander,  318. 

slow  offence,  127. 

Smith,  W.:  Chloris,  300. 

soil,  174. 


INDEX  TO  THE   COMMENTARY 


537 


solve,  174. 

Sonnet  form  or  structure,  68,  97,  113, 

125,  160,  168,  232,  243. 
Sophocles,  24,  177. 
soundless,  196. 
Southampton,  Earl  of,  7,  18,  46,  47, 

75,  95.  129,  132,  138,  185,  193-94. 

200,   208,   209,   232,    242,   244-45, 

247-48,  252,  287,  289-91,  295,  298, 

345- 

Southwell,  66,  355. 

sovereign,  146. 

Spenser,  65,  141,  195,  243;  Amoretti, 
44.  52,  59,  60,  66,  138,  139,  168,  186, 
231,  268,  315;  Colin  Clout,  167; 
Faerie  Queene,  54,  76,  93,  121,  178, 
193;  Shepherd's  Calendar,  182; 
Tears  of  the  Muses,  258. 

spirit,  208,  312. 

spite  of  fortune,  214. 

sport,  223. 

sportive  blood,  284,  285. 

stage,  44. 

stain,  92. 

stand  on  thorns,  232. 

state,  162,  224,  290. 

statute,  323. 

stay,  45. 

steeled,  70. 

steep-up,  30. 

steepy,  160. 

still,  122. 

store  (n.),  38,  43,  162,  204,  329. 

store  (v.),  170. 

strained,  200. 

strains,  215. 

strange,  132. 

strangely,  259. 

strangle,  213. 

stretched  metre,  49. 

subdued,  263. 

subscribes,  251. 

successive,  306. 

such  that,  93. 

Suckling:  Brennoralt,  122,  231. 

sufferance,  149. 

suggest,  348. 

suit,  320. 

suited,  307. 

summer's  front,  237. 

summer's  story,  228. 

suppose,  146. 

Surrey,  Earl  of,  69,  78,  227. 

suspect  (n.),  177. 

sweet  boy,  253. 


sweet-season'd,  185. 
swift  extremity,  127. 
sympathized,  201. 

tables,  286. 

tallies,  287. 

tame  to  sufferance,  149. 

Tasso,  59,  63,  65,  70,  83,  117,  118,  132. 

tell,  85,  334. 

tend,  132. 

tender  (n.),  201. 

Tennyson,  162,  254,  280. 

tenure,  155. 

Terence,  365. 

terms  divine,  357. 

that  (=  quod),  142. 

that  due,  87,  106. 

their-thy,  77,   79,   96,  102,  113,  116, 

119,  121,  173,  178,308. 
this  self,  no. 

Thorpe,  dedications  of,  7,  10,  208. 
thou-you,  40,  71,  240. 
thought,  118. 
thralled,  291. 
thriftless,  21. 
tickle,  301. 
time,  39,  177,  277. 
time  remov'd,  225. 
times,  37. 
Time's  chest,  164. 
Time's  fool,  275. 
times  in  hope,  154. 
time's  pencil,  47. 
tires,  132. 

to  (=  in  comparison  with),  123. 
Tofte:  Laura,  300. 
Tolomei,  370. 
took,  122. 
totter 'd,  21. 
to  west,  92. 
transfix,  153. 

Transposed  phrasing,  255,  263. 
Travel,  sonnets  of,  78,  117,  126. 
true  in  love,  58. 
truth,  101,  123,   133,  154,  224,  235, 

259,  333- 
twire,  81. 

Two  Italian  Gentlemen,  344. 
Two  Noble  Kinsmen,  231. 

unbless,  24. 
unear'd,  24. 
unfair  (v.),  27. 
unfathered,  291. 
unhappily,  167. 


538 


INDEX  TO  THE   COMMENTARY 


unjust,  334. 
unkind,  326-27. 
unknown  minds,  276. 
unlook'd  for,  72. 
unrespected,  116,  135. 
unswept,  141. 
unthrift,  34. 
untrimm'd,  50. 
untrue,  180,  269. 
use,  26,  29,  323. 

vade,  135. 
vaunt,  45. 
Vautrollier,  250. 
Vergil,  139,  240. 
Vernon,  Elizabeth,  229. 
Vervins,  Peace  of,  249. 
vild,  179. 
virtuous  lie,  180. 
vulgar  scandal,  265. 

Waller,  308. 

warrantise,  364. 

Watson,  65;  Passionate  Century,  53; 

Tears  of  Fancy,  69,  70,  211. 
wear  out,  142. 


Webster:  Duchess  of  Malfy,  180. 

well-contented  day,  88. 

what  (=  why),  336. 

where  (=  whether),  152. 

will,  146,  284,  323-26,  328,  329,  344. 

Willobies  Avisa,  221. 

windows  (=  eyes),  72. 

wink,  116,  143. 

wit,  76. 

without  bail,  183. 

woo'd  of  time,  177. 

Wordsworth:  Prelude,  165. 

World-soul,  doctrine  of,  250. 

world-without-end,  146. 

worth,  274. 

wrack,  302. 

wrackful,  164. 

wragged,  29. 

Wyatt,  64,  65,  343,  351. 

youngly,  37. 
you-thou,  40,  71,  240. 
your  self,  40. 

Zenodotus,  370. 
Zepheria,  76,  316. 


INDEX  OF  FIRST  LINES 

Accuse  me  thus,  that  I  have  scanted  all  (117) 276 

Against  my  love  shall  be  as  I  am  now  (63) 159 

Against  that  time  (if  ever  that  time  come)  (49) 124 

Ah  wherefore  with  infection  should  he  live  (67) 169 

Alack  what  poverty  my  Muse  brings  forth  (103) 237 

Alas  't  is  true,  I  have  gone  here  and  there  (1 10) 257 

As  a  decrepit  father  takes  delight  (37) 100 

As  an  unperfect  actor  on  the  stage  (23) 65 

As  fast  as  thou  shalt  wane  so  fast  thou  grow'st  (11) 37 

A  womans  face  with  natures  owne  hand  painted  (20) 53 

Being  your  slave  what  should  I  doe  but  tend  (57) 145 

Beshrew  that  heart  that  makes  my  heart  to  groane  (133)     .       .       .       .321 

Betwixt  mine  eye  and  heart  a  league  is  tooke  (47) 122 

Be  wise  as  thou  art  cruell,  do  not  presse  (140) 337 

But  be  contented  when  that  fell  arest  (74) 183 

But  doe  thy  worst  to  steale  thy  selfe  away  (92) 217 

But  wherefore  do  not  you  a  mightier  waie  (16) 46 

Canst  thou  O  cruell,  say  I  love  thee  not  (149) 362 

Cupid  laid  by  his  brand  and  fell  a  sleepe  (153) 369 

Devouring  time  blunt  thou  the  Lyons  pawes  (19) 51 

Farewell  thou  art  too  deare  for  my  possessing  (87) 210 

For  shame  deny  that  thou  bear'st  love  to  any  (10) 35 

From  fairest  creatures  we  desire  increase  (1) 15 

From  you  have  I  beene  absent  in  the  spring  (98) 227 

Full  many  a  glorious  morning  have  I  seene  (33) 90 

How  can  I  then  returne  in  happy  plight  (28) 80 

How  can  my  Muse  want  subject  to  invent  (38) 104 

How  carefull  was  I  when  I  tooke  my  way  (48) 123 

How  heavie  doe  I  journey  on  the  way  (50)  125 

How  like  a  Winter  hath  my  absence  beene  (97) 225 

How  oft  when  thou  my  musike  musike  playst  (128) 3°7 

How  sweet  and  lovely  dost  thou  make  the  shame  (95) 222 

If  my  deare  love  were  but  the  childe  of  state  (124) 290 

If  the  dull  substance  of  my  flesh  were  thought  (44) 1 17 

If  their  bee  nothing  new,  but  that  which  is  (59) 15° 

If  thou  survive  my  well  contented  daie  (32) 88 

If  thy  soule  check  thee  that  I  come  so  neere  (136) 328 

I  grant  thou  wert  not  married  to  my  Muse  (82) 199 

I  never  saw  that  you  did  painting  need  (83) 201 

In  faith  I  doe  not  love  thee  with  mine  eyes  (141) 338 

In  loving  thee  thou  know'st  I  ani  forsworne  (152) 367 


i 


540  INDEX   OF  FIRST   LINES 

In  the  ould  age  blacke  was  not  counted  faire  (127) 303 

Is  it  for  feare  to  wet  a  widdowes  eye  (9) 34 

Is  it  thy  wil,  thy  Image  should  keepe  open  (61)  .       .       .       .       .       .       .  155 

Let  me  confesse  that  we  two  must  be  twaine  (36) 98 

Let  me  not  to  the  marriage  of  true  mindes  (116) 273. 

Let  not  my  love  be  cal'd  Idolatrie  (105) 241 

Let  those  who  are  in  favor  with  their  stars  (25) 72 

Like  as  the  waves  make  towards  the  pibled  shore  (60) 152 

Like  as  to  make  our  appetites  more  keene  (118) 278 

Loe  as  a  carefull  huswife  runnes  to  catch  (143) 344 

Loe  in  the  Orient  when  the  gracious  light  (7) 30 

Looke  in  thy  glasse  and  tell  the  face  thou  vewest  (3) 24 

Lord  of  my  love,  to  whome  in  vassalage  (26) •     74 

Love  is  my  sinne,  and  thy  deare  vertue  hate  (142) 341 

Love  is  too  young  to  know  what  conscience  is  (151) 365 

Mine  eye  and  heart  are  at  a  mortall  warre  (46) 120 

Mine  eye  hath  play'd  the  painter  and  hath  steeld  (24) 69 

Musick  to  heare,  why  hear'st  thou  musick  sadly  (8) 32 

My  glasse  shall  not  perswade  me  I  am  ould  (22) 62 

My  love  is  as  a  feaver  longing  still  (147) 358 

My  love  is  strengthned  though  more  weake  in  seeming  (102)  ....  236 

My  Mistres  eyes  are  nothing  like  the  Sunne  (130) 314 

My  toung-tide  Muse  in  manners  holds  her  still  (85) 205 

No  more  bee  greev'd  at  that  which  thou  hast  done  (35) 95 

No!  Time,  thou  shalt  not  bost  that  I  doe  change  (123) 288 

Noe  longer  mourne  for  me  when  I  am  dead  (71) 1 79 

Not  from  the  stars  do  I  my  judgement  plucke  (14) 42 

Not  marble,  nor  the  guilded  monument  (55) 136 

Not  mine  owne  feares,  nor  the  prophetick  soule  (107) 244 

O  call  not  me  to  justifie  the  wrong  (139) 335- 

O  for  my  sake  doe  you  with  fortune  chide  (in) 260 

O  how  I  faint  when  I  of  you  do  write  (80) 195 

O  least  the  world  should  taske  you  to  recite  (72) 180 

O  me!  what  eyes  hath  love  put  in  my  head  (148) 360 

O  never  say  that  I  was  false  of  heart  (109) 255 

O  that  you  were  your  selfe,  but  love  you  are  (13) 40 

O  thou  my  lovely  Boy  who  in  thy  power  (126) 299 

Oh  from  what  powre  hast  thou  this  powrefull  might  (150)  ....  363 

Oh  how  much  more  doth  beautie  beautious  seeme  (54) 133 

Oh  how  thy  worth  with  manners  may  I  singe  (39)  .       .       .       .       .       .106 

Oh  truant  Muse  what  shalbe  thy  amends  (101) 235 

Or  I  shall  live  your  Epitaph  to  make  (81) 197 

Or  whether  doth  my  minde  being  crown'd  with  you  (114)      .       .       .       .271 

Poore  soule  the  center  of  my  sinfull  earth  (146) 352 

Say  that  thou  didst  forsake  mee  for  some  fait  (89) 212 

Shall  I  compare  thee  to  a  Summers  day  (18) 50 

Since  brasse,  nor  stone,  nor  earth,  nor  boundlesse  sea  (65)  ....  163  - 

Since  I  left  you,  mine  eye  is  in  my  minde  (113) 268 

Sinne  of  selfe-love  possesseth  al  mine  eye  (62) 156 


. 


INDEX   OF   FIRST   LINES  541 

So  am  I  as  the  rich  whose  blessed  key  (52) 130 

So  are  you  to  my  thoughts  as  food  to  life  (75) 185 

So  is  it  not  with  me  as  with  that  Muse  (21) 58 

So  now  I  have  conf est  that  he  is  thine  (134) 322 

So  oft  have  I  invok'd  thee  for  my  Muse  (78) 192 

So  shall  I  live,  supposing  thou  art  true  (93)  .       . 218 

Some  glory  in  their  birth,  some  in  their  skill  (91) 216 

Some  say  thy  fault  is  youth,  some  wantonesse  (96) 223 

Sweet  love  renew  thy  force,  be  it  not  said  (56) 143 

Take  all  my  loves,  my  love,  yea  take  them  all  (40) 108 

That  God  forbid,  that  made  me  first  your  slave  (58) 148 

That  thou  art  blam'd  shall  not  be  thy  defect  (70) 175 

That  thou  hast  her  it  is  not  all  my  grief e  (42) 114 

That  time  of  yeare  thou  maist  in  me  behold  (73) 181 

That  you  were  once  unkind  be-friends  mee  now  (120) 281 

The  forward  violet  thus  did  I  chide  (99) 230 

The  little  Love-God  lying  once  asleepe  (154) 372 

The  two  other,  slight  ayre,  and  purging  fire  (45) 119 

Th'expence  of  Spirit  in  a  waste  of  shame  (129) 309 

Then  hate  me  when  thou  wilt,  if  ever,  now  (90) 214 

Then  let  not  winters  wragged  hand  deface  (6) 29 

They  that  have  powre  to  hurt,  and  will  doe  none  (94)  .       .       .       .       .219 

Thine  eies  I  love,  and  they  as  pittying  me  (132) 319 

Those  howers  that  with  gentle  worke  did  frame  (5) 27 

Those  lines  that  I  before  have  writ  doe  lie  (115) 272 

Those  lips  that  Loves  owne  hand  did  make  (145) 350 

Those  parts  of  thee  that  the  worlds  eye  doth  view  (69) 173 

Those  pretty  wrongs  that  liberty  commits  (41) 112 

Thou  art  as  tiranous,  so  as  thou  art  (131) 318 

Thou  blinde  foole  love,  what  doost  thou  to  mine  eyes  (137)  ....  330 

Thus  can  my  love  excuse  the  slow  offence  (51) 127 

Thus  is  his  cheeke  the  map  of  daies  out-worne  (68) 171 

Thy  bosome  is  indeared  with  all  hearts  (31) 86 

Thy  guift,  thy  tables,  are  within  my  braine  (122)  • 286 

Thy  glasse  will  shew  thee  how  thy  beauties  were  (77) 189 

Tis  better  to  be  vile  then  vile  esteemed  (121) 283 

To  me  faire  friend  you  never  can  be  old  (104) 239 

Two  loves  I  have  of  comfort  and  dispaire  (144) 346 

Tyr'd  with  all  these  for  restfull  death  I  cry  (66) 165 

Unthrifty  lovelinesse  why  dost  thou  spend  (4) 25 

Was  it  the  proud  full  saile  of  his  great  verse  (86) 207 

Weary  with  toyle,  I  hast  me  to  my  bed  (27) 78 

Wer't  ought  to  me  I  bore  the  canopy  (125) 294 

What  is  your  substance,  whereof  are  you  made  (53) 131 

WThat  potions  have  I  drunke  of  Syren  teares  (119) 279 

What's  in  the  braine  that  I  nek  may  character  (108) 252 

When  fortie  Winters  shall  beseige  thy  brow  (2) 20 

When  I  consider  every  thing  that  growes  (15) 44 

When  I  doe  count  the  clock  that  tels  the  time  (12) 38 

When  I  have  seene  by  times  fell  hand  defaced  (64) 161 

When  in  disgrace  with  Fortune  and  mens  eyes  (29) 82  - 

When  in  the  Chronicle  of  wasted  time  (106)  .       .       . 242  - 


542  INDEX  OF  FIRST   LINES 

When  most  I  winke  then  doe  mine  eyes  best  see  (43) 115 

When  my  love  sweares  that  she  is  made  of  truth  (138) 332 

When  thou  shalt  be  dispode  to  set  me  light  (88) 211 

When  to  the  Sessions  of  sweet  silent  thought  (30) 84 

Where  art  thou  Muse  that  thou  forgetst  so  long  (100) 233 

Whilst  I  alone  did  calf  upon  thy  ayde  (79) 194 

Who  ever  hath  her  wish,  thou  hast  thy  Will  (135)  .       .       .       .       .       .  323 

Who  is  it  that  sayes  most,  which  can  say  more  (84) 203 

Who  will  beleeve  my  verse  in  time  to  come  (17) 49 

Why  didst  thou  promise  such  a  beautious  day  (34)  :       .       .       .       .       .  93 

Why  is  my  verse  so  barren  of  new  pride  (76) 187 

Your  love  and  pittie  doth  th'impression  fill  (112) 265 


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